Birdman, also known by its artsy-fartsy title, BiRDMAN (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), was seen as being key to bringing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton back into the spotlight. But it’s more like it moved him even further into the spotlight, considering the A-lister never really went anywhere. At the very least, Keaton himself doesn’t see Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film as his so-called comeback.
The actor sat with GQ and discussed Birdman, now that it’s been 10 years since the film’s release (and its surprising subsequent Oscar for Best Picture). In Keaton’s blunt words, the idea that the movie was the catalyst for some kind of comeback is “bulls**t.” Here’s what he said:
“A really, really, really smart guy, a guy I liked a lot, said, ‘Comeback — that’s the story.’ I went, ‘
Honestly, it’s kind of bulls**t.
‘ I thought I could make that [comeback] story up, but I knew I’m going to be bullsh*tting every time I talk about it.”
“By the way, I know business. I like business. Doesn’t bother me,” added Keaton, referring to his constant career in the industry. “You go, ‘This is a business, man.’ I never panic [when things get slow]. If you get desperate, you’re fu*ked. Don’t ever get desperate. You can get insecure and nervous, and go, ‘Wow, boy, I’m not doing so great right now.’ But when you get desperate, you’re dead.”
Michael Keaton Never Flew Away
All that said, it’s hard to deny that the film kicked off a string of critical smashes and commercial hits. The former consists of Oscar darling Spotlight, released the year after Birdman, then his excellent role as Ramsey Clark in The Trial of the Chicago 7, and finally his wonderful take on McDonald’s CEO Ray Kroc in the film, The Founder. As for major big-budget movies, Keaton has followed Birdman with the ironically fitting role of Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Morbius, along with roles in other big-budget movies like Dumbo and The Flash.
There is some truth to the fact that, prior to Birdman, Keaton had spent a bit of time in smaller roles and films. After 2009’s The Merry Gentlemen, Keaton had five years of mostly small parts, though he always stood out as a highlight of what he was in (like his hilarious and intense roles in The Other Guys and RoboCop). Aside from that, though, the great actor has been headlining theatrical films consistently since the early ’80s, so it’s not as if he pulled a Travolta.
Keaton remains one of the most versatile performers of his generation or any other. He’s a talented director, too. Heck, he’ll always be our Batman, and he’s funny as hell. We’re glad he’s returning to mature comedy after several years away from it with the upcoming movie Goodrich, starring opposite Mila Kunis. In other words, Keaton’s never gone anywhere and never needed a comeback, and that’s highly unlikely to change. Check out the trailer for his upcoming movie Goodrich below:
