Facebook Twitter Instagram
    • Services
    • Aircheck for Actors
    • Demo Reels
    • Audition Prep/Self-Tape Reader
    • Website Design
    • Mailing Labels
    • Contribute
    • Industry Links
    • Advertise
    Daily Actor
    • Acting Tips
      • Actors on Acting
      • Advice Columns
      • Acting Quotes
      • Audition Tapes
      • How To Become An Actor
      • How to Memorize Lines
    • Monologues
      • Monologues from Plays
      • Monologues from Movies
      • Monologues from Musicals
      • Comedic Monologues
      • Dramatic Monologues
      • One Minute Monologues
      • Monologues for Women
      • Monologues for Men
      • Monologues for Teens
      • Monologues for Kids
      • All Monologues
    • Acting Resources
      • Acting Resume
        • Acting Resume Template
      • Acting Classes
        • Los Angeles Acting Classes
        • Las Vegas Acting Classes
        • San Diego Acting Classes
      • Acting Schools and Colleges
        • Los Angeles
        • New York
        • BFA Acting Schools
      • Casting Websites
      • Headshot Photographers
        • Los Angeles
        • New York City
        • Headshot Printing
      • Acting Techniques
        • What is Method Acting?
      • Stage Directions
      • Demo Reels: Everything You Need to Know
    • Interviews
      Featured

      Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

      January 19, 2023
      Recent

      Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

      January 19, 2023

      Interview: Casting Director Kim Coleman on ‘Five Days at Memorial’, Self-Tape Tips and Portraying Real People

      January 11, 2023

      Interview: David Christopher Wells on His Role in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, Being an Understudy and Getting His MFA

      December 27, 2022
    • Actor Blogs
    • Reviews
      • Movies
      • Theater
      • Books
      • Products
    • Actor Services
      • Airchecks
      • Demo Reels
      • Website Design
      • Mailing Labels
    Daily Actor
    Home » Actors on Acting » Michael Keaton on Being Particular and Why He’s “Incapable of Phoning In” a Role
    Actors on Acting

    Michael Keaton on Being Particular and Why He’s “Incapable of Phoning In” a Role

    Chris McKittrickBy Chris McKittrickFebruary 23, 2022Updated:February 23, 2022No Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Share
    Tweet
    Pin

    Michael Keaton in The Protege

    “I’m incapable of phoning anything in, I would love to phone something in… But I take what I do for a living seriously.” – Michael Keaton 

    Michael Keaton may not have had as many high-profile roles as other actors of his generation, but he cannot be accused of not being serious about the roles he chooses. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter about his career, Keaton spoke about why he is so particular about his roles and how he gets invested in each character — no matter how significant the part is.

    Keaton reveals that he picks his roles from a variety of projects because he fears “phoning” a role in. He explains, “Probably because I’m too frightened, I’m incapable of phoning anything in, I would love to phone something in. Trust me. I would like to just go, ‘Hey, I don’t know what the f—k we’re doing. Let’s just go have some laughs.’ But I take what I do for a living seriously.” In fact, Keaton even doubts his ability to act convincingly, later adding, “I have this thing like, ‘I wonder if I can pull that off? How much longer can I fool people?”

    For example, Keaton appeared in a supporting role in the 2010 film The Other Guys as a police captain who (absurdly) moonlights at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Though Keaton’s character spends much of the film spouting one-liners, it was important to him to speak with the movie’s co-writers Adam McKay and Chris Henchy about the role. He remembers, “I said, ‘Hey, man, can I just spend an hour with you guys? Can we talk about my character?’ I’m sure they thought, ‘Oh, no. Is he crazy?’ [McKay] is like, ‘Look at the role. Don’t sweat it.’ But I thought, ‘I don’t care if I’m playing an amoeba, I have to know something, just give me anything. I promise you, after we spend 15 minutes, it’s all I need.’”

    For Keaton, doing something different movie-to-movie is extremely important. His 2021 film The Protege is one of his first all-out action thrillers and includes a substantial amount of fight choreography. He reflects on that, saying, “I haven’t done that specifically, so I went, ‘Oh man, I don’t know. Go do it.’ I’d blow my brains out if I had to play the same thing all the time. I don’t think I’d be doing this anymore. First of all, people would have been so f—ing bored with me that it would have been over a long time ago. I also lose interest pretty quickly, which is not necessarily an admirable quality. It’s a combination of being curious, not to a fault, but almost obsessively. Also, the challenge. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t work. But I will give myself a little bit of credit for hanging on this long and still doing that, and then that, and then that.”

    Related

    Share
    Tweet
    Pin
    Previous ArticleGillian Jacobs on Genre Projects and What She Thinks is a “Good Day at Work”
    Next Article How ‘The Good Lord Bird’ Casting Director Kim Coleman on Found Actors for the Period Series

    Related Posts

    Interview: Jeremy Davis on Playing Olaf in ‘Frozen’, Costume Mishaps and Making the Role His Own

    January 19, 2023

    Interview: Casting Director Kim Coleman on ‘Five Days at Memorial’, Self-Tape Tips and Portraying Real People

    January 11, 2023

    The 6 Keys To Getting Headshots That Work For You, Not Against You

    January 5, 2023
    Add A Comment

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Popular Pages
    Become An Actor | Acting Tips | Acting Quotes
    Acting Resume | Resume Template
    Headshot Photographers
    Los Angeles | New York
    Print Your Headshots
    Acting Schools & Colleges
    Los Angeles | New York
    Monologues
    Movies | Plays | Comedic | Dramatic
    Men | Women | Teens | Kids
    • Contact
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Resource Listings
    • Write A Column
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy

    Disclaimer: Daily Actor at times uses affiliate links to sites like Amazon.com, Masterclass, streaming services, and others. Affiliate links provides compensation to Daily Actor which helps us remain online, giving you the resources and information actors like you are looking for.

    Daily Actor Facebook Daily Actor Twitter Daily Actor Instagram Daily Actor Pinterest Daily Actor YouTube Page
    © 2023 Daily Actor

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.