Michael Keaton has a new name that you have to say three times in a row.
Michael Keaton, better known for his role in the 1988 cult classic “Beetlejuice,” recently told People that he wants to combine his stage name and his real name for future projects.
In the interview, the 72-year-old actor revealed that he would like to be called Michael Keaton Douglas in the future – a combination of his real name Michael John Douglas and his stage name.
According to Keaton, the name change began early in his career in the 1970s. A rule of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) prohibits its members from using the stage name of another member.
Keaton couldn’t use his real name, Michael Douglas, because SAG already had a Michael Douglas – the Oscar-winning “Wall Street” actor – and a Mike Douglas. Since his real name was out of the question, the actor switched his last name to Keaton.
“I was leafing through it – I don’t remember if it was a phone book,” he recalled. “I must have thought, ‘I don’t know, let me think of something here.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable.'”
Over the years, Keaton’s stage name became iconic, especially as he rose to stardom in films such as Batman and The Paper. Now he hopes to return to his roots with Douglas, although he missed the chance to use “Michael Keaton Douglas” for his latest directorial project, Knox Goes Away.
“I said, ‘Hey, just a heads up, my name is Michael Keaton Douglas.’ And it completely slipped my mind. And I forgot to give them enough time to incorporate it and create it. But that’s what will happen.”
Although the name change did not happen in time, he said he was determined to make it a reality in the future.
Keaton is not the only actor who uses a stage name due to SAG restrictions.
Actors who changed their names due to SAG rules
Emma Stone
Real name: Emily Jean Stein
Why: Emily Stone was already taken.
“(Emily Stone) was accepted into the Screen Actors Guild,” she explained in an interview with TODAY. “It’s kind of like registering a business, and you can’t have the same name as someone else.”
Diane Keaton
Real name: Diane Hall
Why: Diane Hall was already registered with SAG, so the actor took over Keaton’s role, her mother’s maiden name.
Michael J. Fox
Real name: Michael Andrew Fox
Why: According to the actor’s website Michael Fox was already registered with SAG, so the Family Ties actor added the “J” as a tribute to his favorite character actor, Michael J. Pollard.
