Michael Keaton visits WIRED to answers his most searched questions from Google. Was Michael Keaton the best Batman? Is he in the new Beetlejuice sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?” Was Michael Keaton a stand-up comedian? Where did Michael Keaton grow up? What does he remember about working with Quentin Tarantino? What was it like for Michael Keaton to make the film ‘Birdman’ with Alejandro González Iñárritu? Answers to each of these questions and more lie ahead on the WIRED Autocomplete Interview.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice releases September 6
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice releases September 6
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00:00You know I am. I'm Mike. I'm Michael Keaton. Michael Douglas Keaton, actually. I'm here for the Wired Autocomplete interview.
00:09Why Michael Keaton? That's so existential. Why any of us, really?
00:16Why Michael Keaton? This is the best bet now. Because I am.
00:20Michael Keaton, Birdman. I love Birdman. I love doing that movie. Very, very, very difficult movie to do. High Wire Act.
00:29Really fun.
00:31Michael Keaton, Quentin Tarantino. Oh, man. Yeah, that's a...
00:35If you get the chance, do it.
00:38It's just great. Jackie Brown. I don't know if you've seen Jackie Brown lately. Jackie Brown's great.
00:43I mean, I mean all of those movies are great,
00:45but it kind of broke everything down to really the simplest form, telling just a really simple narrative and that vibe.
00:52It has some of the greatest shots I've ever seen and a great, great soundtrack.
00:57Yeah, Quentin's great.
00:59How old is Michael Keaton? You mean, how old is Beetlejuice? It could be any age. It could be anyone. It could be anything.
01:05It defies age or time or space. I have no idea.
01:10I'm gonna get you one of those. You have to catch one of these.
01:13Who does Michael Keaton play in Spider-Man?
01:19I just saw this shot the other day, that great shot in the car, where I'm looking in the mirror.
01:24Somebody was asking me a question about this, and I actually couldn't remember.
01:27I had to Google myself to figure out what the hell, what I was doing in that shot.
01:32It's that shot in the rearview mirror where you look back.
01:34He starts to put two and two together, and I'm Vulture, of course.
01:38Who was Michael Keaton's Alfred? Mick Gough.
01:42He was a cool little dude. Really nice man.
01:45And he was kind of little. We were talking about actors or acting sometimes, and I said,
01:49Do you think most of the actors get better as they get older?
01:52And I'll never forget, he really thought about it, and he said,
01:55I think they just get more.
01:57I said, what do you mean? He said,
01:59You just get, like, more of what you are, you know?
02:02That was stuck with me.
02:04Who does Michael Keaton play in...
02:06Tell me the story.
02:07Don't act like you don't know.
02:09Ken.
02:10I got a call saying, hey, we want to do a...
02:13We want to play Ken in this animated movie.
02:16Ken and Barbie in Ken's name.
02:17I think the phone literally fell out of my hand.
02:19I was laughing so hard.
02:20How do you...
02:21Of course, you're not going to not say...
02:23You're not going to say no to that.
02:25So ridiculous.
02:26Just so ridiculously silly.
02:28I would have never thought of that.
02:30I'm going to tell Gosling that, by the way.
02:32Is Michael Keaton a nice guy?
02:35No.
02:36Horrible human being.
02:37Just the worst.
02:38Just the worst.
02:39Owes people money.
02:40Has overthrown some small governments.
02:43Democracies, too.
02:44That's the sad thing.
02:45You think, well, you know, some governments need to be
02:47overturned.
02:48Not me.
02:49Not me.
02:50I'm an autocrat.
02:51I don't know.
02:52I'll leave that up to everybody else to decide.
02:54Is Michael Keaton coming back as Batman?
02:56You never know.
02:57Is Michael Keaton a Pirates fan?
02:59Big.
03:00They drive me freaking crazy.
03:01But, you know, you're always going to be a fan.
03:03Once you're a fan, you're just, you know...
03:05You just can't quit on your team.
03:07No matter the circumstance.
03:08They're actually playing okay right now.
03:10Is Michael Keaton in the new...
03:14This is the dumbest question I've ever heard.
03:17Of course.
03:18Yes, I am.
03:19That's why we're here.
03:21Yes!
03:22Good girl.
03:23Was Michael Keaton a stand-up comedian?
03:26Yeah, I did.
03:27I did stand-up for a while.
03:28I was about to move to New York, and I wasn't quite
03:31sure what I wanted to do, but I was starting to write
03:33and do my own thing.
03:36So I didn't have to wait around for auditions.
03:38I started doing stand-up, which was like having your
03:40own theater.
03:41But I also loved, loved, loved stand-up as a kid.
03:44Some of the guys that I loved, and I say guys
03:46because mostly they were men back then when I started.
03:50They were the famous few.
03:52And there are so many good stand-ups now.
03:54It's crazy.
03:55It's not like anything else.
03:56You can't compare it to anything else.
03:58It is its own art form, man.
04:00When did Michael Keaton change his name?
04:02I had to because I got a job, and somebody said,
04:07you're going to have to come up with another name,
04:09and I didn't want to, actually.
04:11I was literally, I thought, okay,
04:13let's just get it on the alphabet.
04:15And I saw K, and I thought, man, whatever,
04:17I'll change it to something really cool later.
04:20I'll get a really cool name.
04:22And then I signed it because there was Michael Douglas
04:25in the union, and there was Mike Douglas,
04:28a talk show host.
04:29So I just picked this temporary name, and that's it.
04:32I feel so badly for Diane because she's probably asked
04:35stupid questions all the time because of me.
04:38And I apologize.
04:39Sorry.
04:40Does Michael Keaton have a son who is an actor?
04:45No.
04:46I've got a really talented son and a really good dude
04:50who is a great songwriter.
04:52Wrote for a couple little movies,
04:54and he's a really, really good and successful songwriter.
04:58Writes pop tunes.
04:59Has written a couple country tunes.
05:01Easy to Google.
05:02You'll see.
05:03Just saw him about three hours ago.
05:05All right.
05:06All right.
05:07Don't fuck it up.
05:09There I go.
05:11All right.
05:12Where Michael Keaton?
05:13Where Michael Keaton?
05:14Michael Keaton here.
05:16Where Michael Keaton grew up?
05:18Between a little town called Coriopolis and McKees Rocks,
05:22which are two little what we used to call mill towns
05:26right outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
05:28Where did Michael Keaton get his start?
05:32Wow, that's kind of hard to say.
05:34Probably when I was a little kid
05:36running around in the yard in my underwear
05:38acting like a goofball, really.
05:40I started in college, I guess.
05:44I did a play.
05:46I was not good at all in it.
05:48Then I did another one.
05:49It was okay.
05:50I took an interest in writing.
05:51I started to write,
05:52and then moved back to Pittsburgh
05:54and started working in it.
05:55Actually, a television station, a PBS station.
05:58When you work at these PBS stations,
06:00at least back in the day,
06:01you kind of do everything.
06:02I started at $1.75 an hour, by the way.
06:04You work in the warehouse.
06:05You move, break down sets.
06:07And then because Mr. Rogers was based there
06:09out of WQED,
06:11after a while he knew what I was kind of looking to do,
06:14so I think I played Black and White Panda one time.
06:17I know I played Purple Panda once.
06:1925 bucks.
06:20I make him laugh.
06:21He's a very nice man.
06:22Where's Michael Keaton's...
06:24I don't know where it is.
06:25There's been a few.
06:26I'm pretty sure the body, or the frame, rather,
06:29was based on a big old 78 Oldsmobile or something.
06:33It was huge.
06:34You know, one of those big old American cars.
06:36There's been a few.
06:37Duck!
06:39That was great.
06:40Thanks for having me wired.
06:41Thanks for having me wired.