Michael Keaton Wants to go back to his real name for his future movies. Keaton had been acting under the name Michael Keaton for decades at this point, credited as such in his major projects such as Beetlejuice And Birdman. His latest project will see the actor reprise his classic character from Beetlejuice in the upcoming Tim Burton sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The sequel also stars Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux and Willem Dafoe, and is set for release this week on September 6.
According to PeopleKeaton explains why he wants to go back to being called by another name in future projects. The actor explained it His birth name is not Michael Keaton, but Michael Douglas. The stage name came as a result of an industry rule back when he was joining the Screen Actors Guild. He says he can barely remember how he chose the name Keaton, noting that he “Can’t remember if it was a phone book.” Check out Keaton’s full quote below:
I searched – I don’t remember if it was a phone book. I must have gone, ‘I don’t know, let me think about something’. And I went, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable.’
[On the set of Knox Goes Away] I said, ‘Hey, just as a warning, my credit will be Michael Keaton Douglas.’ And it’s completely off me. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and make it. But this will happen.
Michael Keaton’s name change explained
Oscar winner Michael Douglas took the name first
Keaton’s stage name change was in the 1970s, when he was trying to launch his career. When he entered the Screen Actors Guild, he was confronted with an issue when he learned that SAG had a rule that prohibited two registered actors from having the same name. The registry already has actor Michael Douglas and talk show host Mike Douglas in their records, so the Beetlejuice The actor was forced to choose a new last name. According to the story of the actor, it seems that the specifics of the name choice was somewhat random.
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Even if SAG didn’t have the rule around unique names at the time Keaton was trying to register, having a unique name was likely worked out for him. Michael Douglas is already an established actor At the time Keaton was up-and-coming, being in films such as Romancing the rock And A chorus line. In 1988, Douglas would win Best Actor for his performance in Wall Street. The fact that Keaton was given a distinct last name avoided confusion with Douglas, which likely helped Keaton stand on his own.
Now, Keaton is a much more established actor. He has an Oscar nomination of his own (for Birdman)and won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for the acclaimed television series Dopesic. Because of this injury, Keaton Can probably get away with the name change in his future credits, finally staying true to his birth name.
Source: People