Tim Burton’s surprising wedding gift

In 1992, Tim Burton gave Catherine O’Hara an unexpected gift: a private tour of the Vatican, a landmark gesture in his relationship with the actress and her husband Bo Welch.

Catherine O’Hara shared this memory on the Wiser Than Me podcast hosted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The actress, known for her role in Schitt’s Creek, talked about her early days in improvisation and her unique experiences, including this surprising anecdote.

O’Hara met Bo Welch in 1988 on the set of Beetlejuice, where he was a production designer. Their relationship began thanks to Burton, who urged Welch to ask her out. Four years later, the couple married.

An unusual gift

Tim Burton’s gift was a private tour of the Vatican, which he himself had received and found remarkable. O’Hara recounts that, during this visit, a priest showed them inaccessible places, such as the pope’s closet and a museum with precious objects: crowns and jewels displayed in glass boxes. The priest even let the couple open these boxes and play with the objects, pretending to take them away.

This story is part of a discussion in which Julia Louis-Dreyfus shared her own experience with the Vatican, involving Stephen Colbert and other comedians. The Pope had addressed them on the spirituality of laughter and comedy.

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