Stage names are something that has been around as long as professional performers have been a thing. Keanu Reeves, was asked to change his name because the real thing was seen as too exotic, a move he rejected. Nicolas Cage changed his name to avoid his famous real last name, Coppola, impacting his career others changed names for much more mundane reasons, as happened with Michael Keaton.
Name changes for actors are rarely advertised but at the same time, they are also not exactly secrets anymore. There’s actually a Hollywood legend surrounding how Michael Keaton decided on his new last name, but he’s also been open about the fact that she’s never really loved the change, and he actually plans to use his real name in the future.
Why Michael Douglas Changed His Name To Michael Keaton
The Batman and Beetlejuice actor’s decision to change his name becomes a bit more obvious when you realize that Michael Keaton was born Michael Douglas. Having said that, the decision to change his name wasn’t born out of a simple desire to avoid confusion, it was a union rule.
When Keaton joined the Screen Actors Guild in the early 1970s there were actually two people with his name in the union already. Michael Douglas was the son of Kirk Douglas who had already made a name for himself on screen. Mike Douglas was a TV talk show host. As a result, Keaton had to choose a new name. The story goes that he picked it out of a phone book, but Keaton told People he doesn’t even remember, saying…
I was looking through — I can’t remember if it was a phone book. I must’ve gone, ‘I don’t know, let me think of something here.’ And I went, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable.
And with that simple decision, Michael Douglas became Michael Keaton and the rest is history. Michael Keaton would go on to star in blockbuster movies and be nominated for Academy Awards. However, the actor had plans to use his real name again, and still does.
Why Michael Keaton Wants His Name Back Now
Many actors who change their name professionally embrace it in all aspects of their lives, but others do not. Jonah Hill legally changed his name to his professional name. While Emma Stone, who changed her first name for the same SAG reasons that Keaton changed his last name, prefers it when people use her real name.
Michael Keaton has seemingly never embraced his screen name. In fact Keaton only uses that name professionally which, as he told Stephen Colbert in 2017, has been known to cause confusion…
What's great is, I use my real name, Michael John Douglas, for everything, except when I'm on a marquee or a gig. So, people get very confused because I'll be going somewhere and they'll be a driver with a sign saying 'Michael Douglas' and then I show up. And they look so confused.
However, Keaton has plans to use his real name professionally, because in addition to acting, he’s also a director. Keaton told People he had planned to use his real name in the credits for his movie Knox Goes Away but simply never got around to it. However, he fully plans to do so at some future point.
I said, ‘Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.’ 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.
So while Michael Keaton will continue to work in front of the camera, as in this weekend's release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, expect to see Michael Douglas behind it at some point in the future.
