Michael Keaton finally wants to give up his stage name and use his real name: Michael Douglas.
After decades in the business, the 73-year-old Bettlejuice star, who was born Michael John Douglas, has found a way to incorporate his birth name into his stage name.
The acting legend was not allowed to use his birth name because the Screen Actors Guild prohibits its members from using the professional name of another star.
And unfortunately for Keaton, 79-year-old Oscar winner Michael Douglas was there first.
Keaton now wants to take on the role of Michael Keaton Douglas in his future films.
Michael Keaton, 73, finally wants to give up his stage name and use his real name, Michael Douglas
After decades in the business, the Bettlejuice star, who was born Michael John Douglas, has found a way to incorporate his birth name into his stage name
However, his name in the credits of the Bettlejuice sequel will still be Michael Keaton, as he didn’t fix it in time, he revealed.
He told PEOPLE magazine: ‘I said, ‘Hey, just a heads up: My credit goes to Michael Keaton Douglas.
“And it completely slipped my mind. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen.”
Recalling why he chose the surname ‘Keaton’, he added: ‘I flipped through it. I don’t remember if it was a phone book.
I must have thought, “I don’t know, let me think of something.” And I thought, “Oh, that sounds reasonable.”
Last month, Keaton admitted he was “nervous” about returning to the iconic role of Beetlejuice for Tim Burton’s highly anticipated sequel because he didn’t want to “let anyone down.”
Fans were first introduced to the idiosyncratic Bio-Exorcist more than three decades ago, when Keaton portrayed the unforgettable character in the 1988 cult film, alongside the likes of Alec Baldwin, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is out on September 6 and director Tim, 65, has added Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux and Willem Dafoe to the cast, as well as his real-life girlfriend Monica Bellucci.
The acting legend was not allowed to use his birth name because the Screen Actors Guild prohibits members from using another star’s professional name
And unfortunately for Keaton, 79-year-old Oscar winner Michael Douglas (pictured) was there first.
Keaton now wants to be credited as Michael Keaton Douglas in his future films
Keaton pictured in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
During an interview with Al Roker, Keaton said of the second film, “I was nervous going into it, we all were a little bit, because you don’t want to screw it up. ‘Can I do this without disappointing everybody?’ honestly.”
Looking back on the first time he saw himself reimagined as Beetlejuice, he said, “When I saw that, I was like, ‘Yeah, here we are,’ and the story is actually a really, really good story and everyone is so good in it, it kind of took the pressure off me.”
When asked if it felt like 36 years ago, Keaton joked, “It feels like 136 years.”
When 70-year-old Al noted that O’Hara’s character Delia Deetz has become “more mellow” and “nicer,” the Home Alone star responded: “You have to be. Come on, how long can you put the energy into arguing with someone?’ as Keaton added, ‘It just gets tiring.’
