Michael Keaton explains real reason for ditching his stage name

Michael Keaton, who recently starred in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, unveiled an interesting revelation about his stage name.

The actor, whose real name is Michael John Douglas, in an interview with PEOPLE magazine shared that he wanted to “ditch his stage name and start using his real name instead.”

Keaton, however could not do so, as it already belongs to another famous Hollywood star.

For the universe, the 73-year-old Spider-Man: Homecoming star and 79-year-old Oscar-winning Michael Douglas share same name.

As per the Screen Actors Guild’s rule, actors are prohibited from using another star’s professional name.

While talking about it, Keaton expressed his desire that he “finally wants to his stage name and start going by his real name.” (sic)

He also shared how he wanted to use his name in the credits of the newly released film that still showed his stage-name Michael Keaton.

According to the Batman actor, he didn’t sort it out in time, recalling, “I said, ‘Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.’”

He went on to continue, “And it totally got away from me. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen.”

Keaton returned to the iconic role of Beetlejuice for Tim Burton’s highly-anticipated sequel to 1988 movie.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set for release on September 6, 2024.