Michael Keaton Quotes & Sayings

To say directing was a long-stewing ambition doesn't cover it. If you cut me open, you'd see it. — Michael Keaton

Is this a great country, or what? — Michael Keaton

Dogberry: Thou wilt be condemned into everlasting redemption for this. — Michael Keaton

Sometimes I do movies that aren't any good, or sometimes I might not be any good in them, or sometimes they don't do very well. — Michael Keaton

Actors will say 'yes' to anything. — Michael Keaton

My limited theater experience was when I was a kid starting out: two or three plays. I was good in one and mediocre in the other. My problem is that I have other interests. — Michael Keaton

There's this thin line between knowing something is going to be really hard and saying, 'Yeah, you know, but I still gotta see if I can pull it off.' — Michael Keaton

I don't know how to not be outside since I was a little kid. — Michael Keaton

I'm just shocked at how blatantly shallow people are sometimes. — Michael Keaton

If you're a dope like me, you get every sports channel you can get. I'm watching, you know, Netherlands soccer. — Michael Keaton

To this day, I have the most fond memories of some of my old toys. — Michael Keaton

There is the theory ... that you live in two places: You either live in fear, or you live in love. — Michael Keaton

I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for even having a comedy category. — Michael Keaton

I always thought what made 'Beetlejuice' look so great was because it looked like some genius kid made it in his basement. — Michael Keaton

I was an altar boy, which I loved and am very proud of. It was strict, but also really nice. — Michael Keaton

The first feature film I did, when I did 'Night Shift,' I improvised quite a bit because I would improvise at the audition, so sometimes I would return to the original lines, and then when I was on set, I would improvise even more. — Michael Keaton

I'm envious of writers and musicians. I think it must be so difficult. Not just the frustration, but the discipline. — Michael Keaton

I don't know - sometimes I catch myself being dark, and it's annoying. I think, 'Get over it.' I bore myself. But sometimes, like everybody, I'm sure I am obsessive. — Michael Keaton

My first manager, he had left Germany when he was five, but he would joke about the Nazis. And I'd laugh, but I'd look at him, and he was the first one who told me, 'You know, funny is a powerful thing; it's a wonderful weapon.' — Michael Keaton

Sometimes I don't feel like an actor. Sometimes I speak about it like it was another job, and then I go, 'Wait a minute - I am one!' — Michael Keaton

Guys never really get over their toys. — Michael Keaton

I've proven I'm courageous. I'm gutsier than anybody; I've got a better imagination than anybody; I'm essentially more creative than any other actor I know, and I've proven I take risks. I don't think I need to prove anything to myself any more. — Michael Keaton

I always knew the way in was Bruce Wayne. It wasn't Batman. It was never Batman. That was the key. — Michael Keaton

I have a lot of energy, and I move around a lot in my club act. — Michael Keaton

I choose not to be at the whim of others. I want to be at my own whim. — Michael Keaton

I really believed that Batman had the potential to be one of the coolest guys in cinema. — Michael Keaton

There are certainly producers I hang with and directors I hang with and actors I hang with. — Michael Keaton

I never wanted to play the short game. — Michael Keaton

I remember my mom threatening me, half-serious: 'You know what? I should take you to Pittsburgh and put you in dance lessons just to keep you occupied.' Well, that brought everything to a screeching halt. 'Jeeze, dance lessons.' In retrospect, it would have been awesome, but then, 'Ugh, dancing - dancing's for sissies.' — Michael Keaton

I saw some Pixar movies like 'The Incredibles' and thought, 'This is extraordinary. These are some of the best movies I've seen.' — Michael Keaton

I'm usually pretty good in front of a live audience. I usually like that. — Michael Keaton

There are times when I consciously give the character something physical - a walk, the way he sits, how he talks, or his lack of physicality, which is like a physicality. — Michael Keaton

I'm getting more and more bored with professional sports, but I still watch. — Michael Keaton

My work is distinct and definitive and specific, and hopefully it is so that every single character is different, and they are - but there's probably an underlying element that's me. — Michael Keaton

The vast majority of Pittsburghers don't come from any kind of serious dough. — Michael Keaton

I try to not be or associate with elitists. — Michael Keaton

I can't sleep the first night in a hotel room. — Michael Keaton

It's great to make your own choices, but there's a price to pay. I could've made more money or been more famous. I could be the current groovy guy. — Michael Keaton

I used to work on a survey crew, because my dad was an engineer, but he was also a surveyor. — Michael Keaton

I have some tremendous, tremendously loving, generous friends all over the world. — Michael Keaton

It's odd, how those things happen to actors. A thing where you think, "I have no idea how to do this," something will happen in your life comes up and you just get it. I don't know how you get it, but actors are pretty extraordinary, in that regard. I think it's fear that happens. — Michael Keaton

I reached a point where I didn't think I was that great. I'm not being humble. I was looking at things and thinking: 'You're not really good in that'. I think I was becoming boring as well as bored. It was nobody's fault except mine - probably - and it might not even be my fault. — Michael Keaton

I'm the seventh child of George and Leona Douglas, and I don't ever remember a time when my father didn't work two jobs. When my mother was going to the grocery, or going to Mass, or trying to take care of seven kids in a run-down farmhouse. — Michael Keaton

I get kinda self-conscious. I don't want to know about my eyebrows. I'm born with them. — Michael Keaton

When I was in improv workshops or doing stand-up or writing comedy with others, or just doing comedy, I just laughed. Funny was funny; I loved to laugh. I always liked people I found generally funny. — Michael Keaton

Anyone can be a celebrity now; this is not a big deal anymore. — Michael Keaton

There're only a few photographers I've ever felt really comfortable with. — Michael Keaton

'Beetlejuice' was a romp, man. 'Beetlejuice' was fun. I've never had so much fun in my life. — Michael Keaton

I was never a huge 007 fan, but I sure liked Sean Connery. I'm sure Pierce Brosnan is good and has his moments, but I've not seen him; I've only seen bits and pieces on TV, so I can't really judge. Pierce looks very natural in the role. — Michael Keaton

I like people-people rather than movie people. — Michael Keaton

There just is not one person in my family who is not funny. — Michael Keaton

I read that John Hughes script for 'Mr. Mom,' and I thought, 'This guy is a funny writer.' I went: 'You ought to stick around and direct this thing.' But he didn't; he left, and look what he became. A really legendary comedy director. — Michael Keaton

Weirdly, for someone who wanted to be funny, I didn't like a lot of attention. — Michael Keaton

I liked 'Robocop' because of the director, and it was an intelligent, big-action studio movie. — Michael Keaton

Ahhh ... It's good to be young and insane. — Michael Keaton

You tell me another gang that's got a dental plan. — Michael Keaton

Unless you're flat out dead, you have to think of some other questions like: what's on the other side? It brings up issues of God, or no God. How does he play into this? Or he, or she, or it? How does it all play into this? — Michael Keaton

Have I ever been to a party with a ton of famous people in it? Yes, several times, so I guess that's a Hollywood lifestyle. — Michael Keaton

Will Ferrell makes me laugh a lot when he gets out there and gets crazy. — Michael Keaton

I don't think there's anybody better than Leonardo DiCaprio, and I've been saying that since before anyone knew who he was. — Michael Keaton

If you get a good comedy once a year, man, that's pretty good. I may be pickier than some, but still, there aren't that many movies that are really, truly, honestly that funny. — Michael Keaton

I saw 'Wild,' and I thought, 'Wow, this is a lot of things, but one of the things is it's a therapist's dream and a climate-change denier's nightmare.' — Michael Keaton

High energy creates more energy, more energy, more energy. It kicks off synapses, I guess. It opens up your brain and you think of one thing after another thing, after another. You can really open yourself up comedically, which is fun. — Michael Keaton

Shoot, two things I said I wasn't going to do: Cry and give air quotes, — Michael Keaton

If you look at what I do, there's no consistency. The consistency is that there is no consistency. I do projects that are good and not so good. — Michael Keaton

There are very few jobs where you're held up to public scrutiny. — Michael Keaton

I'm claustrophobic. — Michael Keaton

No, I don't see many movies. I don't even see my own movies. — Michael Keaton

Generally, I move in the direction of art. — Michael Keaton

Filmmaking is the ultimate team sport. — Michael Keaton

In high school, I was too shy to perform. It's one thing to get laughs from your family, to be funny at parties and in class. It's another thing to get up on the stage. — Michael Keaton

I'll always stand by the first 'Batman'. Even for its imperfections, people will never know how hard that movie was to do. A lot of that still holds up. — Michael Keaton

Westerns were always my favorite things when I was little. And it always bothered me when cowboys were too clean in movies, or when they wore their guns like they had an outfit on. It always worked better when a guy looked sweaty and smelly; I hadda believe, I hadda believe that. — Michael Keaton

I never knew anyone who was cloned, but I played one in 'Multiplicity.' — Michael Keaton

My brothers were tremendous shack builders. My shacks were horrible. My brothers once built a two-story shack from the ground up that was awesome! — Michael Keaton

People, when they talk or write about comedy, they don't really get it. — Michael Keaton

You don't get bored with stuff like 'Birdman.' — Michael Keaton

Yeah, I had to change my name because there were two other actors registered at Equity with that name. — Michael Keaton

If I'm going to meditate, there is a little church up in Montecito, California. It's an old Spanish mission, actually. I find it comforting in there. — Michael Keaton

I think one reason I really like women and like working with women is because of my sisters. — Michael Keaton

I'm in a business that invites narcissism, self-involvement, and egos being blown out of proportion. — Michael Keaton

I always think that I'm not going to be right for a movie or that there's someone else who can do it better. — Michael Keaton

I've got six wonderful brothers and sisters. — Michael Keaton

I performed stand-up because I didn't have to ask anyone's permission. My set was never joke-centric. It was a performance. — Michael Keaton

Actors don't get to be well-known if they're horrible. — Michael Keaton

To make extra money, my parents would sell eggs and chickens. I was very little. I remember a chicken's head being chopped off with the chicken running around. I wasn't sure if my imagination was running away with me or if it really happened. It really happened. — Michael Keaton

People always make these generalized statements about Hollywood, and there's all kinds of people in Hollywood. — Michael Keaton

Anesthesia is quite remarkable. It's lost time. And you wake up kind of refreshed. — Michael Keaton

Unpredictability means what it means. I don't know how you define it. It is what it is. — Michael Keaton

One thing my mother had a nose for was inauthenticity. — Michael Keaton

Over the years, I think, people - actors, writers, whatever - lose their frame of reference. Their frame of reference is based on somebody else who did this or did that. Performances. So it just becomes a reflection of what already works. Like a warm-up. And that's an invitation to be inauthentic. — Michael Keaton

Chris Nolan is great, but I've never seen any of the 'Batman' movies all the way through. I know they're good. I just have zero interest in those kinds of movies. — Michael Keaton

I played a lot of sports when I was a kid so I get in that ballgame mindset of being really, really respectful, but at same time saying to yourself, 'Don't back down a single inch, hang with these guys if you can.' If they throw it high and tight you have to stand in there, you can't take yourself out of that moment. — Michael Keaton

Chris Guest movies are funny. — Michael Keaton

I didn't go to church all the time, just 'cause I was an antsy kid. — Michael Keaton

Well, I think I'm not a non-believer, and I'm not a believer. But, on the other hand, I couldn't give you a good enough reason why EVP doesn't exist. I don't know enough about it, so how could I say it's not true. Plus, a person's reality is a person's reality so that's your belief system. It's all perception anyway, isn't it. — Michael Keaton

I hope this doesn't sound pretentious, but I very often like the way Europeans make movies. I think sometimes that don't they care about having to clean certain things. — Michael Keaton

I guess I'm probably a Method actor; I don't know ... I just think of it as staying in the zone. — Michael Keaton

I've changed my diet a few times. Now I'm trying to eat more protein. I eat little meals throughout the day. I love food, so I still give myself great meals. Also, when I'm busy, it's easy to lose weight. — Michael Keaton

In our family, my brothers and I shared toys. In other words, just because it was mine didn't mean my brothers and I didn't play with it. — Michael Keaton