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Charlie’s Angels actress Jaclyn Smith was almost in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice - but she didn’t understand the script

Charlie’s Angels actress Jaclyn Smith believes she blew her chance to be in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice because the script didn’t ring true to her

News by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer

Published on Mon May 18 2026

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Beetlejuice is a wild movie, and lots of people in the film industry didn’t understand what Tim Burton was going for. The 1988 horror comedy was irreverent, visually imaginative, macabre, twisted, and had a lot of heart. Jaclyn Smith, who is famous for playing Kelly Garrett on Charlie’s Angels, was almost in the film, but she didn’t know what to make of the script.

“I was considered for Beetlejuice,” Jaclyn Smith revealed during a Charlie’s Angels reunion panel at PaleyFest LA 2026. “I just didn’t understand it. I know, I know. Sad. My husband regrets that. But you know, you read a script and it doesn’t always ring true to you, and it’s about what you can bring to it. So, there’s been through the years different things [that I’ve turned down].”

Musing about other roles, Smith added, “I look at my life as what’s meant to be will be, and it’s been a good journey.”

Smith didn’t say which role she was up for, but considering her age at the time, it was likely Barbara Maitland (played by Geena Davis) or Delia Deetz (played by Catherine O’Hara). It should be noted that Burton cast Davis because she understood the movie better than he did, which is interesting in light of Smith’s comments about how she couldn’t wrap her head around the film.

Still, Smith got to be one of the original Charlie’s Angels, which is a pretty good feather in your cap.

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.