Catherine O'Hara Reveals the 'Amazing' Wedding Gift She Received from Tim Burton

The actress also says she has Burton to thank for making her husband, Bo Welch, ask her out when the three were working together on the 1988 film 'Beetlejuice'

Tim Burton and Catherine O'Hara speak onstage during the Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation during CinemaCon 2024 at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 09, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tim Burton and Catherine O'Hara in April 2024. Photo:

 David Becker/Getty

Catherine O'Hara is reminiscing about the unforgettable wedding gift she received from director Tim Burton.

During an appearance on the Oct. 30 episode of Julia Louis-Dreyfus' podcast Wiser Than Me, a production of Lemonade Media, the Home Alone star, 70, revealed that Burton, 66, treated her and her husband Bo Welch to a rare experience in Italy after they married in 1992.

"Tim gave us an amazing wedding gift, which was a private tour at the Vatican," O'Hara said, prompting Louis-Dreyfus, 63, to reply, "Yeah, only Tim Burton would give a present like that."

"Somebody had given [Burton] the gift, and he’d been blown away, so he passed it on, which is really wonderful and generous," O'Hara continued. "So this lovely priest or cardinal took us all around the Vatican, and he was wild."

Catherine O'Hara and Bo Welch attend the UK Premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" at the Cineworld Leicester Square on August 29, 2024 in London, England.
Catherine O'Hara and Bo Welch attend the U.K. premiere of 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' on Aug. 29, 2024.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

She recalled how their tour guide took them "everywhere" — "including, I swear, the Pope’s closet."

"He took us on the elevator that the Pope takes down to the St. Peter’s Basilica to his dead mass. He took us in this beautiful, little private museum full of, in glass cases, all the gifts given to the Vatican from all over the world," O'Hara said. "And he let us open the case and take out crowns and pretend to be putting them in my husband’s backpack."

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The actress also told Louis-Dreyfus that she has Burton to thank for pushing her husband to finally ask her out when the three were on the set of 1988's Beetlejuice. Burton directed the film, and O'Hara starred as Delia Deetz. Welch, 72, worked behind the scenes as a production designer.

Catherine O'Hara and husband Bo Welch attends the First Annual Movie Awards on January 30, 1991 at Universal Amphitheatre in Universal City, California
Catherine O'Hara and Bo Welch in 1991.

Ron Galella Collection/Getty

"Tim Burton basically made him ask me out. Because I was grousing to Tim that this guy was talking to me every day, and never asking me out," O'Hara told Louis-Dreyfus. "So Tim said, 'Let me see what I can do.' He did talk to him, and Bo begrudgingly asked me out. And now we’re still married, thank goodness."

Back in August, the Schitt's Creek star told PEOPLE that the day Welch invited her on a date was her favorite part of filming Beetlejuice. She recalled that he finally made the move when they were out shooting the exteriors of the iconic Beetlejuice house in Vermont.

"Bo came up to me that day and said, 'Our department's going to a swap meet. You want to come?' " she said.

O'Hara and Welch tied the knot on April 25, 1992, and went on to welcome two children together, Matthew and Luke. The pair recently had a full-circle moment — for both their relationship and career — when they walked the red carpet together at the premiere of the long-awaited sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 28.

Catherine's Beau: Actress Catherine O'Hara and her beau; Bo Welch; enjoy themselves at Monday night's hot Alliance party at Prego's. Welch is a production designer.
Bo Welch and Catherine O'Hara.

Erin Combs/Toronto Star/Getty

Earlier this year, O'Hara shared how she and Welch have managed to find their way through some particularly "rough times" together in their marriage.

"We both just really wanted to work on it and stay married," she told PEOPLE, adding that laughter also has helped keep their bond strong. "And laughing. Respecting each other and talking, but laughing comes from that too."

"People always say communicate, right?" she added. "Tell them how you're feeling."

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