Birdman star Michael Keaton says “I’m Batman. I’m very secure in that.”
Michael Keaton, who won critical acclaim for his performance as Riggan Thomson in Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), a black comedy about a washed-up Hollywood actor who once played the superhero "Birdman" in three blockbuster movies before leaving the multi-billion-dollar franchise, was asked in an interview by ShortList: "Christian Bale recently said he felt jealous to see Ben Affleck wearing the cape and cowl - do you ever get that?" The 63-year-old who twice played the Caped Crusader for Tim Burton replied: "No. Do you know why? Because I'm Batman. I'm very secure in that."
Keaton played the title role in the 1989 Batman and the 1992 Batman Returns sequel. He was set to reprise the role again for a third Batman film but backed out and left the franchise when he learned that Burton was dropped as director of the film. "Tim changed, or started, everything," he said in the interview. "And I'm proud of the choice I made, in terms of how to play Batman. It's probably easier now because Tim paved the way, and if I did anything to pave the way, I'm proud of that, too."
Regarding his critically acclaimed portrayal of Birdman, Keaton said "First of all, it's more about Alejandro [González Iñárritu, the director] than me; I'm just the vessel.... This movie is about him. People keep saying: "You did this, you did that" and I go, 'Yeah I know,' but that's not the truth. It's Alejandro. This is him working out his stuff."
He also talked about how liberating it was doing the unflattering scenes as the washed-up actor. He said: "It's purposely not flattering. People say I look like that because obviously I do, but it's not that hard to make someone look bad. I like it. I've done this before... You have to be willing to make yourself unflattering. You make your eyes look tired. You look horrible. It's really freeing because you just go, 'OK, take all your clothes off in Times Square.' Then, of course, you see yourself and go: 'Woah, dude, I think I've gone a little too far.'
Asked how he will style his acceptance speech in case he does win the Oscar for his Birdman role, Keaton said: "I think weeping and gushing is cool. I see a totally phony, gushing, pandering, obnoxious, long, vomiting, spewing type of speech."
Birdman was released on October 17, 2014, in the United States.