Beetlejuice, Batman, and all-around legendary actor Michael Keaton just dropped a bombshell: he’s ditching the “Keaton” part of his stage name. That’s right—he’s bringing out the big guns and going back to his birth name, Michael Douglas. Yes, you heard that correctly. No, it’s not that Michael Douglas. There’s another one.
For those who are scratching their heads, here’s the backstory: When Keaton burst onto the scene back in the day, Hollywood already had a Michael Douglas (you know, the guy who was busy winning Oscars and charming Catherine Zeta-Jones). Since the Screen Actors Guild has a strict “No Doppelgängers Allowed” policy, our Beetlejuice star needed a plan. Legend has it, he casually flipped through a phone book like he was ordering pizza and landed on “Keaton.” That’s the official story… or something like that.
In a new interview with People, Keaton—sorry, Michael Keaton Douglas—finally cleared up the long-standing rumor about his name selection. “I was looking through—honestly, I can’t remember if it was a phone book or a random assortment of Scrabble tiles,” he confessed. “I just thought, ‘Keaton? Yeah, that sounds like a dude who’s about to play Batman. Let’s roll with it.’”
Fast forward to 2023, and Keaton Douglas (or should we just call him “The Artist Formerly Known as Keaton”?) decided it was time for a rebrand. During the filming of *Knox Goes Away*, which he directed and starred in, he dropped the bomb on his team: “Heads up, people—Michael Keaton Douglas is coming to a theater near you.”
The only problem? Absolutely no one was ready for it. “It got away from me,” he admitted. “I didn’t give them enough time to make it official. So, you know, we missed the deadline. Whoops.”
But fear not! Michael Keaton Douglas has promised the name change is coming—eventually. Because, if Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that nothing says “serious actor” like a mid-70s identity crisis. So next time you see a credit for “Michael Keaton Douglas,” just remember: that’s still your Beetlejuice. Or is it? Honestly, at this point, who knows?
