Michael Keaton on TV roles, ‘Dopesick’ and Revisiting Batman

Michael Keaton He has a reputation for saying no. He is not sure how it started, but he is aware of it. In fact, he almost said no to “fool.”

When his agent first told him about the project, he didn’t think he would have time since he had a commitment outside the country. Then they told him that he came from the creator. danny strong and took a look at the script.

“So it was real. The writing was good, we had a conversation and then we shot,” says Keaton, who had already signed on to do a film in London, so all of his scenes were put together in a short period of time.

“I was told that people used to refer to me as ‘Doctor No,’ because apparently, I used to say not much. I don’t think I really said no to that much. The things I said no to, there was a reason. It wasn’t like I was above that. It just didn’t fit into my life, or I didn’t think I could do the job very well,” he explains. “There were many times I looked at something and thought, ‘There are probably 50 guys who could do this better than me.’ But I’ve never done anything like this.”

After agreeing to take on the series, Strong began writing more episodes.

“We were very lucky to have Michael Keaton star in ‘Dopesick,’ because he’s one of the most talented actors in the business,” says the writer. “He exudes an innate depth and kindness and has an incredible emotional range that was perfect for capturing the ups and downs of Dr. Finnix’s complex journey.”

At the time, Keaton was working on other projects and was eventually sent new scripts. “I realized, ‘Wow, boy, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.’ But he was already inside.

Hulu’s limited series, based on Beth Macy’s nonfiction book “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America,” examines the horrific opioid crisis and its impact on so many; for Keaton, it’s personal as lost a nephew to drug addiction.

“This is very sad, but remember years ago when people finally started saying, ‘Well, we’re all affected by cancer because it affects everyone in some way somewhere.’ At first that sounds like an exaggerated statement. Then you realize, wait a minute, that’s true. Well, it is like that now with the opioid crisis,” she says. “And fentanyl is something else. I mean, that’s the horrible stepson or something.”

As he began to read more episodes and the book, there were a few moments that he felt were “too much on the nose” and pitted the “good guys against the bad guys.” So as a producer, he went to Strong and talked it out. The showrunner would then send Keaton an article or proof of how intense the situation is. “I would say, ‘Well, okay, maybe that’s not an exaggeration.'”

For viewers, it’s hard not to get angry or even angry about the situation of how the crisis has unfolded. For Keaton, he had to put any of those emotions behind him.

“Overall, and this is a sad and cynical comment, I’m hardly surprised by anything. You can spend your whole life angry, but it will wear you down to the point where you become ineffective as a citizen,” he says. “That’s not to say I still don’t get really angry sometimes. But that doesn’t really get you anywhere.”

Luckily, he finds things that make him happy every day; he likes to read the newspaper, usually two, if not three different ones, every day and watch a little television. Right now, he’s Apple TV+’s “Severance,” which he says he’s “obsessed with.”

While the actor has appeared on television many times over the years, “Dopesick” was Keaton’s first series that he starred in from start to finish. So was it a fun process?

“Ish,” he says with a laugh. “At one point I told Danny, ‘I’m never doing this again.'”

However, he knows that this show will “spawn other topic-oriented series”, which makes him happy. In fact, he’s in talks for another book-based project that he’s “considering” doing, but isn’t ready to share more just yet.

“I really admire all those people who do those hour-long shows that are years and years and years. It’s hard to do, except they get really rich! he says before laughing out loud and mentioning his old friend, Mark Harmon, who ran “NCIS” for 18 years and was one of the highest-paid actors on television at the time.

Keaton says the duo used to play softball together, and once bought a 1956 Ford pickup from Harmon that he had restored.

“Every time I think about him, I think, ‘How much money does he have? He must have so much money!” Keaton jokes. “I thought, ‘He should have given me that truck. I never should have had to pay for it!’”

So does that mean the movie star will do more TV shows in the future? It is definitely possible.

“I think I am too lazy. I don’t know if I have the stamina for that. But I’m late to the game: pound for pound, TV writing is far superior,” he says, noting that it makes sense that, financially, people would want to stay home and watch TV.

But still, it’s about the script. If it’s good writing, that’s enough to say yes.

“It used to be about, have I done this before? If I freaked out a little bit, or was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I could do this,’ I was pretty incentivized by that,” she says. “In the beginning, you could explore and experiment. If something was good enough, you’d say yes to see if you can play it. Now and for many, many years, it’s simple: either writing is good or it’s not good. And then you take a chance on the director. It’s not complicated.

Another thing that is not complicated? Her pure love for cinema and the feeling of walking into a movie theater. “I sit there and I’m like, ‘Oh man, I forgot how good this is.’ There is nothing like that. There will never be anything like this.”

And so far, Keaton’s career has flourished in film. He was Jack in “Mr. Mom.” Five years later, he became Beetlejuice for Tim Burton’s 1988 film of the same name. And then, a year later, he reteamed with Burton to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in “Batman” and later in “Batman Returns” He opted out of the third film when Burton was no longer attached.

Some 30 years later, he donned the suit again for the next film “Flash.” “He has to be good, and there has to be a reason,” he said. saying Variety last year discussing what would make him come back.

So, we followed up on that: What is the reason?

Turns out the answer is pretty simple: “It looked like fun.”

“I was curious what it would be like after so many years. Not so much me doing it, obviously some of it, but I was curious about it, weirdly, socially. All of this is gigantic. They have their own world,” he says of the DC and Marvel character universes. “So, I like to see him as an outsider, thinking ‘Holy crap!'”

Keaton credits director Richard Donner and star Christopher Reeve with setting the superhero world on fire with 1978’s “Superman.” But Burton, he says, “changed everything.”

“I know people don’t believe this, that I’ve never seen a full version of any of those movies, any Marvel movies, any other. And I’m not saying I don’t watch that because I’m an intellectual, believe me! It’s not that,” she says. “It’s just that there are very few things that I look at. I start watching something and I think it’s great and I watch three episodes, but I have other things to do!

What really drew him in was the bigger picture of superhero storytelling and the fact that no one knew it would become what it is today. Plus, he notes, “the writing was really good!”

“So I thought, why not? It’s great to come and I’m curious to see if I can pull it off.”

Since Keaton hasn’t seen any other superhero movies (there have been seven actors who have played the Caped Crusader since then), he admits it was a bit confusing to dive back into that world.

Bruce Wayne has changed a bit since Keaton last played him, we remind the actor.

After a brief pause, he replies with a smile, “It’s not mine.”