Why Michael Keaton Is Changing His Name After 50 Years

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The artist formerly known as Michael Keaton is reinventing himself — starting with his name.

In an interview with People, the actor, 72, revealed that for future projects, he will perform under his new stage name, Michael Keaton Douglas.

Keaton’s birth name is Michael Douglas, however, when his career began over five decades ago, he couldn’t register with the Screen Actors Guild under his actual name, due to the fact that another actor named Michael Douglas was already part of the union: talk show host Mike Douglas.

Keaton explained that he came up with the stage name after perusing a periodical. “I was looking through — I can’t remember if it was a phone book,” said Keaton. “I must’ve gone, ‘I don’t know, let me think of something here.’ And I went, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable.'”

The new stage name is a combination of Keaton’s longtime stage name and his legal name. Keaton had intended to use his new moniker in his 2023 movie Knox Goes Away, but wasn’t able to fill out the necessary documentation in time.

“I said, ‘Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.’ And it totally got away from me,” Keaton said. “And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen.”

Keaton is still credited as Michael Keaton in his upcoming movie Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Elsewhere in the interview, Keaton revealed that he was initially unsure about playing the titular character in the original 1988 Beetlejuice. But a meeting with director Tim Burton changed everything. “My gut said, ‘This guy is something. For sure, something,” said Keaton. “Plus, I just liked him. I liked him as a person. I got along with him, and he seemed like my kind of eccentric artist.”

Of course, Keaton was right, as the original Beetlejuice went on to make over $73 million from a $13 million budget, and launched the careers of Burton and Winona Ryder. It won an Oscar for best makeup, and has gone on to become a beloved cult classic.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice arrives in theaters Friday, September 6.