Doug Jones ecstatic with Hocus Pocus return

Doug Jones was delighted to reprise the role of Billy Butcherson in 'Hocus Pocus 2'.

The 62-year-old actor's alter ego has been raised from the dead as a zombie for the sequel and Doug confessed that he has always hoped to play the character in another film.

Doug told Collider: "I've been asked, in many interviews over the years, and I've been acting for 36 years now, is there any one character I've played that I would love to revisit again? And Billy Butcherson was always my number one answer."

The 'Hellboy' star is known for his portrayals of non-human creatures during his movie career and felt a sense of "joy" playing the "human-ish" part in the original 1993 film.

Doug said: "There were more layers to him and I wanted more backstory. When you've had a career like mine, and you're glued into so much rubber and glue, and contact lenses and mechanics, and you can't go to the bathroom with your hand claws on, I don't always look forward to going into work because I know the day I have ahead of me.

"But Billy was a character that was human-ish, with humour, goofiness, fun, and a family-friendly vibe, who was headed toward a happy ending. All of that made going into work a joy. I thought, 'I wanna do that again.'"

The 'Hocus Pocus' sequel comes almost three decades after the original but Doug was still starstruck by leading ladies Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy.

He explained: "When that call came, I was excited to get to do all of that again. I got to reunite with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, which was so dreamy.

"They were all huge, in my world. I was just like, 'I can't believe I'm on the same set with these people. Oh, my gosh!'

"Coming back, you never lose your starstruck-ness, really, or I don't. I was still like, 'Oh, my gosh, there they are again.'"