Michael Keaton got candid with The New York Times about the role which “still bugs [him] to this day” in a new joint interview with his Beetlejuice Beetlejuice director Tim Burton.
Keaton has been a long-time collaborator with Burton, appearing in five of the director's films including the original Beetlejuice and two Batman movies. Despite most of their collaborations receiving universal acclaim, including their upcoming Beetlejuice sequel, Keaton conceded that one of his least favorite performances was in a Burton film.
“I think I let him down on one movie, but that’s just me, and it bugs me to this day,” the Birdman star admitted. “I was clueless on Dumbo. I sucked in Dumbo.”
Dumbo was Burton’s lukewarmly received live-action remake of Disney’s 1941 classic. Keaton played the film’s villain, a preposterously bewigged amusement park owner desperate to profit from the title character.
In response to Keaton’s withering self-criticism, Burton responded, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but whatever.”
These recent remarks echo those Burton made back in 2019, the year Dumbo was released, which implied that Keaton wasn’t the only artist adrift on that set.
“The thing about Dumbo is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done,” the director shared the Lumière Festival. “I realized that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape. That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level.”
In an interview with Variety published on August 22, Burton admitted that he thought his career might be over after Dumbo. “Honestly, after Dumbo, I really didn’t know. I thought that could have been it, really. I could have retired,” he reflected, “or become…well, I wouldn’t have become an animator again, that’s over.”
Burton credited Beetlejuice Beetlejuice with “reenergizing” his interest in filmmaking, a sentiment Keaton strongly agreed with. The actor said that returning to Beetlejuice was “freewheeling in the best possible way” after years of playing darker, more dramatic roles.
“I admit, I was nervous about doing this again,” Keaton said, “even up to the point where we all showed up. It’s a really, really, really hard thing to recreate, but it was the same and better.”
Critics seem to agree. Following its premiere on Wednesday, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has received ecstatic reviews, with many hailing it as a return to form for Burton and a long-awaited comedic showcase for Keaton.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits theaters on September 6.
