Did You Know This About...Michael Keaton

Spoiler phrases: “Katy Perry” and “Lost”

Whether he’s your favourite actoror or your favourite Batman (he’s definitely ours), Michael Keaton has been a big name with a lot of successful feature films under his (utility) belt.

We at ScreenHeads have gone on the hunt and picked out some of the most interesting facts about the Birdman star, which you can read below!

Michael Keaton…is a stage name!

That’s right. The Keaton name is a farce. The actor’s real name is Michael Douglas, a name many film fans will know because of the actor…well…Michael Douglas. There was also already a Mike Douglas who worked in broadcasting. So, Our Michael had to choose a stage name for his work.

Though he uses the Keaton name frequently as his stage name, he has never legally changed his name to it.

Was considered for Ghostbusters (1984) and many more

The usual “he/she was considered for…”. Keaton was at one point or another in line for the following roles:

Dr Jack Shephard in the hit TV show Lost (2004). He was set for the role with the understanding that the character would be killed off early in the series, though when plans changed he had to walk away. Matthew Fox then ended up taking on the role.
Peter Venkman or Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (1984). Keaton, for whatever reason, turned down both roles, and we got Bill Murray and Harold Ramis in the roles respectively.
Harry Burns in When Harry Met Sally… (1989). The role eventually when to Billy Crystal.
Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams (1989). This role of course was filled by Kevin Costner.
Alan Parrish in Jumanji (1995). Robin Williams took the role in the end.
Phil Connors in Groundhog Day (1993). Another time that Billy Murray filled a role instead of Keaton. In this instance, Keaton was deemed “too nice” for the character so…what does that tell us about Murray!?
Jack Traven in Speed (1994). The role of course went to Keanu Reeves.

He was the oldest Batman, and is the shortest

At the time of filming Batman Returns (1992), Keaton was 40 years of age. This made Keaton the oldest actor to don the cowl until Ben Affleck took the role at the age of 42.

However, to date, the actor remains the shortest to play the role, standing at 5 feet 9 inches.

Has one historical figure in mind that he’d like to play

Keaton has already touched on the Biopic genre in the past. Nonetheless, there is a particular person from history that he’d be keen to play. That person is Ted Williams.

Williams is a Hall of Fame baseball player who played for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960. So, we’re guessing Keaton is a big baseball guy!

Has appeared in three films that have been nominated for Best Picture at The Oscars

More so in recent years, Keaton has become more and more associated with the Oscars pool. As of 2016, the actor has actually starred in three films that were nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards:

Toy Story 3 (2010)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Spotlight (2015)

He is a huge Katy Perry fan

Can we really imagine Tim Burton’s Caped Crusader boogying to “California Gurls”? Yeah, I thought so too. Apparently, the star is a fan! Who’d have thought it!

He’s never seen the completed version of Batman Returns (1992)

I’m sure this fact somehow hits Batman fans somewhere where it hurts. During an appearance on the WTF Podcast with Marc Maron, Keaton revealed he has never seen the full version of Batman Returns (1992).

Whether its a joke or not we don’t know, but he explained that he only took the role because he needed money for a real-estate deal. Hmm.

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What are your thoughts on the above? Know any other little facts about the first dark Batman of the screen? Let us know all in the comment section below!

Did You Know This About…Michael Keaton