Michael Keaton has made quite a name for himself in the entertainment industry. He gained early recognition as a comedic actor in films like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice. Keaton then branched out into dramas with the Batman films, Spotlight, and his Oscar-nominated performance in Birdman. While the world has known Keaton by one name for nearly five decades in show business, he said that in the future he would like to use his real name.
The veteran actor's birth name is Michael John Douglas. But as you may know, we already have Michael Douglas from Basic Instinct and talk show host Mike Douglas. Since the Screen Actors Guild prohibits members from having the same professional name, Michael Keaton said People What made you choose your long-lasting stage name?
“I was looking at… I don’t remember if it was a phone book,” Keaton said. “I must have thought, ‘I don’t know, let me think of something. ’ And then I was like, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable. ’”
After nearly five decades of entertaining us in film and television roles, Michael Keaton has decided he wants to be credited by his birth name. The Dopesick actor was set to be credited as Michael Keaton Douglas in his recent directorial project Knox Goes Away, but the idea slipped through his fingers due to the stress of filming:
“I said, ‘Hey, just as a warning, my credit will go to Michael Keaton Douglas. ’ And it completely got out of hand. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create it. But that will happen.”
What upcoming projects does Michael Keaton have?
Michael Keaton currently has Beetlejuice Beetlejuice coming to theaters this weekend. But, his next project is a comedy film with Mila Kunis called Goodrich. He plays an art dealer whose second wife leaves him to go to a 90-day rehab. This leads him to ask his estranged adult daughter to help him take care of his nine-year-old twins. You can expect to see his new comedy in theaters on October 18th.
The Golden Globe winner may be known as “Michael Keaton” in both the Beetlejuice sequel and Goodrich, but it seems like it's only a matter of time until we see “Michael Keaton Douglas” on movie posters soon.