Exactly 10 years after “Birdman” was released, and Micheal Keaton is still denying that the film was his “comeback” role.
Keaton led the 2014 dark comedy from Alejandro González Iñárritu, that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. Keaton played an aging actor best known for a superhero role who has an existential crisis while trying to revamp his career with a Broadway play. Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, and Edward Norton also starred.
And despite the critical success of the film, Keaton is shrugging off the validity of its marketing campaign. Keaton told GQ that it was “bullshit” how “Birdman” was being positioned as reviving his own career, seemingly drawing a parallel between his character and his real-life acting legacy.
“A really, really, really smart guy, a guy I liked a lot, said, ‘Comeback — that’s the story,’” Keaton said of campaigning for the film at the time. “I went, ‘Honestly, it’s kind of bullshit.’”
Keaton continued, “I thought I could make that story up, but I knew I’m going to be bullshitting every time I talk about it. By the way, I know business. I like business. Doesn’t bother me. You go, ‘This is a business, man.’”
The “Beetlejuice” actor pointed to the ebb and flow of Hollywood across his decades-spanning career.
“I never panic,” he said. “If you get desperate, you’re fucked. Don’t ever get desperate. You can get insecure and nervous, and go, ‘Wow, boy, I’m not doing so great right now.’ But when you get desperate, you’re dead.”
Keaton even later in the interview admitted that he personally was not distraught after “Batgirl” was scrapped by Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022, despite him already having filmed the feature and reprised his iconic role of Batman for it.
“I didn’t care one way or another,” Keaton said. “Big, fun, nice check.”
“Birdman” director Iñárritu previously told The Hollywood Reporter that he was “terrified” to make his comedy directing debut with the film. Iñárritu met with legendary filmmaker Mike Nichols to ask for advice on shooting “Birdman”; Nichols apparently told Iñárritu he was “running to disaster” as the cast was not comprised of “comedy actors.”
“I appreciated what he said because he put me in a red alert,” Iñárritu said. “I needed to put in much more effort. I appreciate that he was so honest with me and it was great, but it was terrifying.”
