Michael Keaton may no longer be Michael Keaton in the near future. According to People, when the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice actor was breaking into the industry in the '70s, he couldn't use his birth name, Michael Douglas, because the Screen Actors Guild does not allow members using the same professional name. So when it came time to big a new name, Keaton told the outlet he wasn't exactly sure how he landed on the name he would become known as.
"I was looking through — I can't remember if it was a phone book," Keaton shared. "I must've gone, 'I don't know, let me think of something here.' And I went, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable.'" Despite making a name for himself as Michael Keaton, the beloved actor wants to start going by Michael Keaton Douglas on his professional projects. In fact, he meant to do it with his latest directorial project, Knox Goes Away, earlier this year, he "forgot."
"I said, 'Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.' And it totally got away from me," Keaton explained. "And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen." He still appears as Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but since he has no plans to slow down any time soon, the name change will eventually come. Since it is still on his mind and he's talking about it, that could help him get to the point of changing it. It's only just a matter of time.
Michael Keaton would be the latest celebrity to change his name, whether professionally or personally. In May, it was reported that Sia was requesting to change her legal name from Sia Kate Furler to Sia Bernad after getting married to Dan Bernad. Meanwhile, Machine Gun Kelly changed his stage name to the abbreviated and much shorter "mgk" on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube.
Michael Keaton Douglas is not too bad of a change. It's also likely many people will still call him just Michael Keaton, at least when the change first happens. He wants to move forward with the change, but with the stress and his many projects, it's certainly hard to lock it down. Fans should prepare themselves, though, because his next project could be starring or directed by Michael Keaton Douglas.