Michael Keaton Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters | GQ

if you pick a open a script and a comedy and all those pages however many pages there are if you laugh out loud three times you have something three times let's you go o that's funny that's really [Music] funny [Music] Batman don't kill me man don't kill me don't kill me man I'm not going to kill you I want you to do me a favor I want you to tell all your friends about me what are you I'm Batman when they said we're thinking of doing Batman he said wait you're going to make a movie of Batman yea

h there was Superman but that Superman which dick donor did which was really really good very Charming actually and Chris was great and had humor and it was like you know so the fact that Tim said that guy I want that guy like white people even cared one way or another that much is still baffling but still that was a ballsy move on his part we also had a nice working relationship you know from Beetle Juice So I think he felt he and I will get along through this and we can you know we work well [

Music] together we literally were figuring out how to make it work like the day before my first shot in the [Music] suit what his idea was and a person would get in it and this would actually work was it you know that's a big leap and so a lot of it was adjusting the whole thing physically you know and also how was I going to move you had to feel it you had to feel the vibe and and feel where your position was literally on a set and what the impact was just in this and what the whole thing was a

nd all the loneliness inside that really deep lonely thing you know the guy was already inside you know now he's really inside this thing like I said work the suit baby just work the suit that thing will get you three4 of the way there you know what I never talked about really which was easy to be honest was I never thought about Batman there always Bruce Wayne who's Bruce Wayne you start with that could you tell me which of these guys is Bruce Wayne well I'm not sure the witnesses the murder of

his parents you know that's a lot to start with especially the the Frank Miller approach which is what we we took and also determining with Tim that he was so not cool kind of odd you know an odd dude you want know the truth I don't think I've ever been in this room before that scene wasn't even there that was me when we were working on I said he probably has never been in this room was always probably cold kind of damp you know nervous about this date you know find in those spots to be funny w

hich was not there where's this funny you know more people have asked me about it than I've even volunteered talking about it so people make a bigger deal out of this but it was it was really really really hard like physically hard took me a long time to realize when I just did the flash I don't know how stupid I could be I was training to be really fit and I was training one day Jack Nicholson walked by me we were just starting to shoot and you guys was kind of working on this bag and I had bee

n training to get you know fit and walks by me goes what are you doing I said you know just working out he goes what are you doing that for I didn't have an answer for him he just walked off and went the trailer I approached him totally wrong it's better to be real small and little and thin inside the thing you can move you can bre breathe there's room inside I don't know what I was thinking but I thought you know I'm an actor and I'm going to do all this stuff I mean it helped in terms of carry

ing the whole thing around all the time I was part of something that was freaking GameChanger in terms of how they make those moves I mean that that changed everything Beetle Juice I think he had some sketches cuz Tim always has sketches I think even then he wasn't quite exactly sure what the whole thing was going to look like but he he clearly had images in his head he had set images and character images and who these people would be and everything like that but he gave me something that I took

home and I said okay let me start with this and then we never rehearsed it we never screen tested I went I said here's what it's going to be here's what I want to do here's here's the here's the look and then Vio and Tim had even better ideas saying O you know what I want I want you to add like the whole mold thing was only because Tim said he he comes and goes from different time periods I mean he might be like buried under the ground for you know he could be out you know as it could be anythi

ng kind I went buried under the ground okay probably mold you know mold would be a good thing so I said but mold you know and and that the idea that that he's kind of like electric all the time welcome to Wi River New see a natural green a monument to the boy businessman come on a little closer I just started working on ideas and you know hit the ground running and it was either going to work or wasn't going to work it was one of the great yes and experiences you know you can have you know that

thing in improvisation you know you never you don't say no you know you fed X-Men you don't say no I didn't order anything say oh great you know bring it over here and then you go from there soon as he saw that he started to get really excited then we ran through a scene and that's when he he took off it was like in that case a lot of it in that case oh if you're going to do that hold on a minute he really had to explained to me how certain things how the head spinning was going to work he said

watch I'll show you something and then he'd show me and I go oh oh I see I didn't know what that meant when I read it or I didn't know how that works you know literally I don't know how it technically worked in that case you know how about if I do this and it was like that it was just most fun just tremendous fun just going off there's nothing to lose well there's fair amount of money to lose from the studio but what do you think of this you like it once you wear something man very often you go

from here to there and when I was a kid you know I would goof around I'd make my family laugh either walking funny or imitating somebody or you know but you might grab something put a hat on you might put your dad dad's coat on or something you know and you go ah yeah of course that's what he wears you know when you wear something like that you probably don't walk like that you probably you know it's just it's huge it's huge I don't know why but it's huge I mean it's one of my favorite things if

not my favorite thing if you had to put a gun to my head and say you got to pick one just for the create the creativity of it all and now you're returning the role of yeah the approach is can I do it the rest of the cast is so good and what's going on in the story is so solid yeah I got there again but I think for some of it it was a little bit of O boy I think I'll get out I'll Escape because it's so good [Music] Mr [Music] Mom Dad yeah this is cold and the cheese isn't hardly melted down we t

ry everything can make this work I've got a in this kid and I'm going to stick around to make sure that he's okay there you go you're really interested in is the baby the baby I remember distinctly laughing about something that I never normally would laugh at ever in any other script I remember what I was sitting I was in bed I was the headboard I think my head hit the headboard I remember distinctly going I can't believe I'm laughing at that because people who love comedy and read comedy have d

one comedy you just don't laugh at a lot of things other people do because you're kind of looking at is that funny enough or is there a better line here or how do I do that or has that been done well all that stuff and I went okay this could really be something so I meet with Hughes who came out from Chicago and I'm listening to him and I'm talking about it and I looked at I said you should direct this I said you know you know how to make this m no I just want to write it and then he went off an

d he really never was much around and Harry columia and I my manager and partner would basically rewrite a lot and then if you look at that cast that's really great cast to the the Fantastic the the greatest Terry gar who doesn't get mentioned enough for me Jeffrey tamber and Martin Maul you know when I read it I said man this is really funny but it has to be done a certain way because I looked like I was about 10 you know so I go okay Mary young I get that you know I come from families all my f

amily kind of married young but I still look like I'm 10 and I said you have three kids so we had to kind of justify that and rationalize all that and then we had to you know kind of work with the director and kind of guide certain things say now I think we got to you know change the direction that's not really funny because it looked oldfashioned or whatever but he had a great ability visually and he made it almost look Norman rockwan in a way forget the paper there we go there we go that's it

would you forget the P he put The Campaign together the ad campaign like that great great idea you that shot of me holding up the baby to the air blower really solid nice hit bigger hit as Heros went on here's the reason I like to talk about Mr Mom totally before it's time people go yeah just you know a little funny nice lighthearted movie yeah it was except that at the time the economy wasn't doing very well no one was really talking about a man a woman going into the workplace and a man stayin

g home that now you could probably go back and find in fact there's a great Gary Cooper movie I forget the name of he had to kind of take care of a baby or something but nobody was really talking about that inequality uh uh opportunities for women women going into the work force and what what what they come up against Guy having to do what were traditionally woman woman's roles you know and doing it comedically right I'm extremely proud of that movie that movie was ahead of its time and funny an

d really good-natured and a John Hugh script multiplicity we didn't destroy your life slick you did as a matter of fact we were trying to save it for you we were doing pretty good too we just had one bad day multiplicity to make today we we could do it in about 17 minutes it's 96 right you don't have all the toys but it was Harold Ramis the great Harold Ramis he approaches me about this idea and I immediately liked the general idea didn't know how we were going to do it but what I didn't want to

do was go well when he does this one we'll put on a fat suit you know he did this makeup you know that to me was not cheating but I thought because what if you cloned yourself you'd still have you but what is the thing that's not you in that that was the premise you know what's the little thing it's always all very versions of me you can't just go out and meet some strangers and bring them up here hey what are we supposed to live like a couple of monks I think two was like the testosterone driv

en version you know the testosterone level got a little off and the second one they adjust it was an adjustment I guess and just really sensitive we got to sit down and have you know a rrap session or something because you're both feeling a lot of anger here and I'm just afraid you know you're like two lions or something shut up shut up nicest man do we decide you know is is he gay you know and Harold wisely said I don't know you know I said no it'll help me as an actor because I'm good with it

you know and he'd say I don't know and and I went that's right it's exactly right what does it matter he goes he's just really sensitive one of my favorite characters of all time by the way the other guy was a risk because I said okay let's really go let's steal from Jerry Lewis let's be honest let's just steal right from Jerry sry Steve how legs going to have to come off a lot of times it was a stand like this light stand with a golf ball a pingpong ball on it so I had something to focus on but

you always had to know where your eyeline was and and you'd be inocent and then then he wisely brought on a couple guys who were great help to me actors who would come in and then play I could play off of sometimes that was really helpful sometimes it was a distraction because it would be like you'd go okay we start the scene with four who is the most extreme but he's talking to two and then you got to go back to four but then later in the afternoon we're going to one like a good day would have

been H heral say to me wow you get to be one almost all day today and I thought oh great there was a lot of improvising because Herold comes from a real improv background so that was another thing say well if we're going to improvise you can't improvise too much because it could throw every throw everything off so I'd be doing a scene you know with one of the guys one of my guy one of me I'd go oh you know when I come around I know what my I know what I have to say I know what the scene is I go

t to say this to him so sometimes what was great is I get an idea so I'd set myself up because I knew when I was coming around to the other guy I'd do the other half of the joke sometimes worked sometimes didn't sometimes I had tell the guy if it was an actor I'd say when we do that you know just give me that you know so that I all day long every day which is exhausting but tremendous fun actually and really really really hard Ben Stiller was walking across the set one day and we never mind go h

ey what's going on and we were walking he was going to work on set and he asked me what I was doing I told him I said here I'll show you and I pulled him in the trailer and I had a chart on the wall like this pasted up of this guy goes to here then four is here and then he goes back to one then I'll go back to four then I go to three and then you know and it and it in a day and he kind of looked like this and didn't say anything and just walked out and walked away and I've never talked to him si

nce and I have no idea if he went holy I don't even want to know about that I forgot to shut the windows on the valvo it's going to be soaked do you mind no problem I get it just making Andy McDow laugh sorry about yelling with the kids and everything Ione me she said one day I literally peed my pants and I wanted to see if I could pull that off to to to influence a person's bladder is so it's so such a sense of power Chris Rock and I were talking about this the great thing about stand up that I

miss is Weaponry you know they go you know you know when it's working and then you gain power in the set you go oh man I haven't even gotten I I know I know what I have coming they don't know what I have coming you know and I go and this is this is this is working and working and working and I'm going to set this thing up just so when I pull this thing out of my hip pocket this thing that I know works because I've done it a thousand times I'm this is going to blow the roof up that there's nothi

ng there's nothing even close to that I love doing multiplicity Spider-Man homecoming how many times have I told you not to fire them out in the open you said move the merchandise under the radar under the radar that's how we survive if you bring damage control or The Avengers down here we're through those movies are kind of some in some ways I think easier and and not easier so you go okay you know it's kind of play time really you know it's kind of we're playing you know there's so many people

who've done like you watch William defog who's also in Beetle Juice Beetle Juice this cast is insane when you watch him in the Spiderman he's unbelievably good I mean he's unbelievably good I was like the first one in was the guy first in right you're going to play Batman you're be wear a big rubber suit nobody's done this kind and you would think that kind of all fall apart and go bad they they didn't they're good you know and the actor everything's the quality is really really good but what I

liked about when he when he talked to me about this great thing about Batman and Bruce Wayne was he had no superpowers he go how am I gonna how am I going to do this that's the situation with that guy as well right there's something about it that's contemporary because basically what he's saying is where's mine what about me which is out there and was out there and still is out there so I said Ah that's what this guy is he goes you know he he he didn't pick this but he said okay really you eigh

t years not a word from the feds nothing from those Halloween costume wearing bozos up there in Stark Tower and then all of a sudden this little bastard in red tight shows up and he thinks he can tear down everything I bu I love my gang those guys those actors it was so fun to show up they're my boys you know and I berated them and you know took one out had some laughs with others I love that whole that whole and all that stuff you know much do about nothing forget not that I am an ass I said I

can't do it I don't know how to do this and he said no you know how to do it Brana and I go N I don't know how to do it I don't want to do it thank you I'm really honored because I so love Henry the 5 when I saw it it was I mean I see Shakespeare hold time away when he does it he's just so brilliant he said no you can do it and I said no because you know I'm going to look foolish first of all Americans doing it kind of sound dumb he said no no no forget all that de cel's not going to do that nob

ody's going to do any of that I said I I'll I'll make something up we're in Tuscany which was stunningly beautiful and I'm going I am a movie star in Tuscany making mov movies we and how much better does this get and it was really hot really really hot like brutally hot and so of course my I'm in really hot warm stuff with a shitty beard the offender did call me ass I beseech you Let It Be Remembered in his punishment somebody told me and it might have been Brown out told me there's a Celtic inf

luence in a lot of Shakespeare apparently according to him or someone not me and so there's like this little bit of a Irish thing sound to it a little bit and I just decided to make to make this guy up because frankly Doug brury when people go ah the great you know you read Shakespeare and said of course the comedic and I I I never found them funny for a minute you know I'd look at and go I ain't laughing you know I'd go see a play and I go yeah I'm supposed to laugh because it's Shakespeare it'

s not funny just doesn't make me laugh so I thought well I got to do what I got to do he loved it and he had this wonderful Shakespeare skull sweet little guy used to wear really beautiful like white linen uh shirts and he had this beautiful Straw Hat he was kind of a small guy really you know British was very pale very sweet little G gentleman I could watch his face like sweat would drip off his face and his little hands would Shake thinking what the is this guy doing and breno would be like ca

lming him down going no like rubbing his arms it's going to be fine and he loved it he thought oh this is great which to me a made me laugh but also I felt badly I thought oh man this poor guy Jesus you know the poor man is a scholar and I'm some schmuck from you know Pittsburgh who thought it was funny and it is funny to pretend like I ride in on a horse I just thought I don't know he rides in on a horse in his head otherwise dogberry doesn't make me laugh you know this poor guy Birdman I was j

ust thinking about that subtitle I have a lot riding on this place oh is that right yeah people know who I am they they don't know you your work man they know the guy from the bird suit who goes and tells Koy slightly vomitous stories on letter probably people don't believe it but there's zero connection except that you go oh yeah I'm in an industry and I am that guy and I'm not playing that guy so obviously that's something so I have some experience with that but that I mean all you do is watch

the movie that's so far removed from what the movie is you know and this was before we were talking about meta then and now you hear a lot about it but I never ran away and go no I I don't I can't you know the obvious was the obvious however that's not really what that movie is at all in a lot of ways that guy is about as far away from me I mean like a lot of us be a little nuts I'm not that nuts I'm like I'm a human being so I know it's like to get worried and sweat things and feel you know a

little insecure from time time but I never I I never give give into desperation and this poor guy you know he he was Liv in despair a lot you know desperation owned him what's wrong with me why do I beg people to love me Eddie please just please just give me the gun I just wanted to be what you wanted you know when you're talking about Alejandro he's There's No One Like There's No One Like Alejandro and there's not going to be anyone like him you know he's just really special and and bold man gu

y's so bold you should be careful sorry I can't talk late music weirdly was a really pleasant experience because because of how difficult it was I mean usually I think people talk in terms of well it's really difficult it's really hard but most of the time hard is really exhilarating or fun especially if you pull it off but so much was missed in you know that the whole One Shot thing that was extraordinary and is extraordinary actually a couple people have done it but they don't pay attention to

the story this was you know the difficulty in this was a lot of things right first of all you got to care and you got to buy in and it's so crazy and there are so many levels to it and it had to be meticulous in its execution down to the choreography every day was one one shot every day was one shot the entire day and Knox goes away the movie I just directed we do Pages I'd knock off scenes in a day I and I I'd even think of ways to go you know what if I'm smart we can actually do this and run

over and grab that other thing I'm going to need and then we don't have to shoot it on Thursday we can go shoot that other thing on th I'm pretty good at that actually but there was none of that you can't do that it's like more like a series of rehearsals and doing a play every day and then accomplishing one scene that's it and then you shoot all that stuff and run through it and run through it because you know if I walk through that door and you're coming down the hallway right and we have to b

e word perfect because it's coordinated such that I have to meet you in the hallway we get down and have that scene at a certain spot because we have to hit a certain spot and turn the corner and get down steps and if somebody screws it up you have to do it all over again anybody you know crew actors him anybody or something goes wrong you know you can't control everything you know a bird flies through or something you know at theend the end of the day sometimes people just would would applaud y

ou know like like people would feel like yes we did it we did it again especially him he'd be so excited because you'd think you'd have it and everybody go that think that's it and and sometimes probably I can't really remember there were probably days where we probably did get it kind of early then you go no let's go back and he you know he's a perfectionistic and like that it's a really great experience Spotlight I need you to tell me something Jim could it be 90 priest what could it be as hig

h as 90 Jesus Robbie I need to know Jim I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important you could have stop this Robie was the case where you got to talk to that guy you got to hang out out with that guy because it's real it's a story that happened these are real people it's based on the Washington Post journalists and so hanging around with Robbie was vital obviously but after a while even that I kind of go that's enough and I and also there's something weird to me a little bit about in the case of

having to hang out with Robbie this this was not what I'm about to say but sometimes I feel kind of like a vampire or something you know when person somebody's been through something difficult or you want to know how they feel what you know kind of sucking at the thing so I I tend to get enough and then move on leave them alone you know I bother people often there's no way around it really you have to do something right so with Robbie you hang out with Robbie I've done movies in and around and

play journalist I think like four times so that whole world and then you know I was raised Catholic and then you had to know what the facts were what's the truth what really happened we've got two stories here we got a story about degenerate clergy and we've got a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry now which story do you want us to write cuz we're writing one of them when I was a kid I used to like to try to imp impersonate people and I used to do accents

things I saw in movies or on television you know the interesting thing about Robbie when I first met him I went oh thank God he didn't even have an accent I'm kind of lazy a lot of times and I go okay I don't have to do that good make my life a lot easier I don't have to be subject to anything people want it wait for you know man you know New Yorkers AR like people from Boston man Boston people just go wait they go wrong and then I heard him speaking with somebody it was thick as could be and he

said oh yeah that happens to me you know I've been around the world a lot and I but but he made and it's not a it's not like he doesn't put it on it's not a conscious thing you know maybe there I got a lot of nice uh compliments and I'm sure there are people would go he was way off I have no idea I'm not as good as as I was when I was little I was pretty good actually I think I get older you get stupider so so there's that Knox goes away dad come could you please just talk to me dad miles yeah

sure miles come here come on in a script came to me that was really well written from Michael sugar who represents and produces with Soderberg who I think is like one of the greats Michael was one of the proofs of Spotlight and he had laid a script on me uh toward the end I think or maybe after we wrapped or something I read it and and I thought oh this is this guy's a good writer I've never heard of him or I've never seen this is this is I think well written it's really solid then you know it w

as a question of when and I sat around my house for uh I can't remember I know over a year I'd go do another movie or something and then I'd come back and I'd read and I'd say hey you know what are you going to do about this and eventually of course I'm surprised they waited so long they said hey you know we have to make a decision you you think you're want to do this as an actor when I read it like the second time or something I thought i' think I'd rather direct this so then the question was s

hould I direct it and be in it and I said yes I should in my own head so I said I'll do it but I want to direct it and it's actually in a lot of ways is for me anyway easier to direct yourself it tends to go more quickly I make a decision early on I said okay I think I know the guy I know what the approach is going to be so I know how the scenes are going to feel already so I can kind of say here's here's here's the route douc says this thing moves pretty fast oh Jesus no I can't think of anythi

ng worse except maybe the Pekka stops working actually I'm I'm looking forward to forgetting some things I I don't know that I'd do something like that again if I didn't have to play as many things inside the character uh I'd do it again but I wouldn't do do this kind of guy again that was pretty hard it's a lot to keep tracked up yeah lot character constantly honestly I had to be reminded at times it was kind of embarrassing we return with scene and I I not people would be you know saying of co

urse you know this next go wait where am I now or why am I doing that or why are we shooting that you know there were a few times that and you know they may have got a little worried about me I as an actor gave up looking at the monitor a long time ago I never really was a big monitor looking at and I'm not sure I'm right about that decision by the way I recently saw something I went whoa you know it might be I maybe should go back and stop and just look again because once you look at your once

I look at myself I'm I now I have a self-consciousness you know I hate but you do have to run back and look at the monitor there's no way around that now and also you've got to be work with an amiable uh DP and somebody secure who goes yeah cool shot I like that it's a good idea let's let's do your shot you know and then most of the time or half the time or some of the time they'll say that's a really good shot you want to see a better shot you'll go yeah and I'll go that's a much better shot ye

ah let's do that clean and sober that's about it right isn't it craigy yeah oh boy big 307 a week boy you got to allocate that don't you what That Lean Cuisine maybe some pork and beans hey why don't you get yourself another pair of those plastic shoes fine you want me out of here I'm out of here the predictable way I when actors say watch me act you always go to anger you know it's like the easiest say wow I'm I'm really I'm really acting because look how angry I am doesn't really maybe I had t

o do that but really what that came from was it was simple you know I knew with his guys where he was and where he wasn't what he wanted I talked to everybody talked to addicts and you read about it sadly it was a lot easier to find what is it sad it's a lot easier to find you know someone who's been through a program or an addict or as experienced it one way or another now I probably would have to leave the room well I wouldn't have to leave the room me I've got you know family then you know yo

u kind of had to go out there and people were a little less uh they wouldn't talk about it as much so you do that and then you say okay now I'm blessed with not that condition situation so the turning point was everybody probably has some addiction somehow somewhere or there's a tiny bit of your personality that could be obsessive let's say about something and so you say okay what's that thing for me you know what's that little mightbe a tiny little thing what that thing for me you know and a gu

y gave me I was talking to a guy good friend of mine old friend of mine and he said one thing that stuck in my head and that was if you're a Ral Mouse what's the where's the cheese where's the cheese where's the cheese where's the story where's the story what's driving me that was a $90,000 phone call man $90,000 literally you wake up and go I need to score it starts with that 90 grand man that's the stock market babe it doesn't give a if I'm in a hospital or not so for an actor that's kind you

go well my motivation is pretty kind of simple really if I break it down to that then it just starts all over there is no other thing there is no other thing but that I got to go from here to there they're tremendous Liars usually really Charming kind of often funny let me ask you something the are you doing here you got a problem darl I knew where in that scene I said wow this isn't working working out for this guy too well you know I've been through these meetings which I hate hated the charac

ter hated thought was and you're just deeply unhappy you an addict darl funny how the mind works proof that you're not an addict is that you're not dead right I don't believe this what that I'm here are you an addict Daryl you finding that anger this night really hard you know you thought well at this point this this he's he's he hasn't even bought him down he's not even there yet you know listening to this this AA speak and thinking he's above it all that stuff going on inside you know that's g

ot to go somewhere night sh heyy what he like our boss or what no no he's the supervisor he's not here at night n get out of town just you and me and the S alone here that's going to be radical that guy's dead I was doing a sitcom I was in a couple of them and every time one was canceled I was the happiest man because I would think during that time this guy loel Gans one of the writers directed one of the episodes and he and I hit it off and he went and told Ron Howard he said you got to that mo

vie you you're doing you should I got a guy you should meet so they found me and said okay come and audition like everybody else and I auditioned and they they brought me back and I auditioned to again I audition again and I would audition do the lines cuz it was good scenes you know funny scenes and I would improvise I came in and I made a decision about who he was and you know this stream of Consciousness kind of hyper you know the idea man thing wait a minute hold the phone I got it oh you're

going to cure cancer no tuna fish what if you mix mayonnaise right in the can with the tuna tuna fish hold it hold it wait a minute Chuck take live tuna fish and feed them mayonnaise oh this is good call Star kiss they said go back that thing that one thing don't do that you know don't don't wear that I remember there was something about what I was wearing and they were right that's not where we're and I said I got it so I would go home and work on it just like everything else and work on it an

d then the lad company I think latty was one of the he the guys who signed off and Ron Howard you know was just he had directed movies um coming off you know giant TV hit graser's first big thing I think he may have had a movie before Brian graser they kind of I learned later I'm pretty sure I was I was almost fired a couple times from different things I was fired uh from another movie but this one apparently was they were going whoa no no no this is not going to work and those if I'm not mistak

en those two guys said no you have to let this go they were comedy fans you know and Ronnie was trying to really make a big move out of like a very kind of conservative kind of like nice sitcom thing and to their credit you know they gave me a shot and and then then it uh they let me go and that was it was really fun depends on the role you know it depends on and then how close the actual thing is to you some some roles aren't aren't really that far off from you when I've had a really quite vari

ed career you know in terms of characters