“It was off-putting”: Michael Keaton Despised One Thing Fans Did to Beetlejuice After 1988 Film Became a Cult-classic Hit

Michael Keaton has played many iconic characters over the years. While Batman and the Vulture have certainly gotten him a lot of attention, there is no denying that his work in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice was one of the most iconic points in his career. The influence that the character had cannot be put into words, as he was immortalized in the hall of Burton’s most iconic characters.

However, sometimes the attention that one role gets can be counterproductive. During a recent interview, Keaton talked about the attention his portrayal of the character got. Interestingly enough, he revealed how it made it difficult for him to find his voice the second time around.

Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice Went Places

When a character becomes as iconic as Beetlejuice did, there are several rites of passage. They will be immortalized by their faces being put on everything. From mugs to shirts, action figures, and posters, if something can be printed on it, Michael Keaton and his green hair are on it.

During a recent interview with Empire, the actor revealed his feelings on the same, and they were not positive.

There’s been so much merchandising of it, I had to drop back to where it started.

I had to go, ‘What was my unusual imagination even thinking about when I was developing it in the first place?’ As opposed to seeing a coffee mug or a golf-club cover [adorned with Betelgeuse’s face].

While many actors enjoy these sorts of vanity, the same could not be said for him, as he found it to be quite odd. The fact that his face was almost everywhere quite disturbing, not because he was uncomfortable with his face being there but because he felt that the character was turning into something much bigger than himself.

Unfortunately, this was not a good thing when it came time to shoot Beetlejuice 2.

Michael Keaton Got Lost in the Oversaturation

The oversaturation of his first portrayal of Beetlejuice made Michael Keaton forget the vision he had when he was playing the character in the first film. What he thought to be the intentions and motivations of the character were being clouded by those of the world. This made it extremely difficult for him to get back into the zone in the second film.

The ubiquity of Beetlejuice as a character in the culture created its own challenges. That was f*cking weird.

To be honest with you – I’m being very frank – it was off-putting, to look and go, ‘I don’t want to look like all these little things, f*ck that – what was the thing that started this?’

While Keaton does not think that the success of the character was a bad thing, it did make it odd for him to get back into the skin of someone when the entire world thought that they had him figured out. To better understand what he was trying to do in 1988, he went back to square one and decided to look back at where he was.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released in theaters on September 6, 2024.