Sure, while actors can play any kind of role, the training necessary to play these characters is also a crucial aspect of the process, often reaching previously unheard-of levels. That being said, when Michael Keaton played Riggan Thomson in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman (2014), he took on a new challenge in his already lucrative acting career.
Given that Keaton had starred in a superhero flick, Batman Returns, that came out in 1992, Birdman was undoubtedly an interesting one. It was shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki to give the impression that it is a single, uninterrupted 119-minute shot. In order to pull it off, the filmmakers combined roughly ten different takes with ingenious special effects.
The filming process was, of course, exhausting and exhilarating, pushing Keaton to his limits both physically and mentally.
Michael Keaton’s Test of Endurance: The Thrills and Challenges of Filming Birdman
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki carefully orchestrated every aspect of the filming of Birdman to ensure that the unique style of the movie was executed flawlessly. Every element, from complex lighting arrangements to deft camera movements, was painstakingly designed to give the impression of a single continuous shot.
Michael Keaton revealed to Variety in 2014 that he was worn out from the process. Lighting was particularly not easy because the camera occasionally wandered outside to explore New York’s busy streets.
Film actors are not always accustomed to playing single scenes for longer than a few minutes. The majority of scenes are condensed, shot from several perspectives, and compositely edited for optimal clarity and quality.
Despite the challenges and long hours on set, Keaton found the experience to be incredibly rewarding. He embraced the exhaustion as a sign of a job well done, relishing in the feeling of truly working hard and giving his all to the role. The actor told the outlet:
“But this is how you want to be exhausted. Leaving a lot of movie sets, I’ve gone home and said, ‘How come my hands are clean?’ I should finish something and go home with dirt in my fingernails, because then you really feel that you’ve done something. This was one where I went, ‘Whoa man, I worked’.”
For Keaton, filming Birdman was more than just a routine job on a set; it was a life-changing experience that would never fade. The actor played Bruce Wayne in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).
From ‘Ballsy’ Move to Baffling Backlash: Michael Keaton’s Batman Journey
Michael Keaton acknowledged in a career retrospective interview for GQ magazine that he thought it was “ballsy” that he was cast as Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 superhero film. At the time, there was a backlash from comic book fans against Keaton’s casting (see Vulture). The actor had previously worked with Burton on the 1998 comedy Beetlejuice.
“When they said ‘We’re thinking of doing Batman,’ I said, ‘Wait, you’re thinking of making a movie about Batman?’The fact that Tim said ‘That guy, I want that guy’ … The fact that people cared one way or another so much is still baffling. But that was a ballsy move on his part. We also had a nice working relationship from ‘Beetlejuice,’ so he felt that he and I could get along and would work well together.”
Keaton also discussed a special encounter he had with Jack Nicholson on Burton’s set. Joker was portrayed by Nicholson in the movie. The actor recalled:
“I was training to be really fit. One day Jack Nicholson walked by me and goes, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m working out.’ And he said, ‘What are you doing that for?’ I didn’t have an answer for him and he just walked off. I approached it totally wrong. It’s better to be really small and little and thin inside the thing. You can move, you can breathe inside. I don’t know what I was thinking, I just thought ‘I’m an actor, I’m gonna do all this stuff!’”
With over $400 million in box office receipts, Batman was a critical and commercial success (Box Office Mojo).
Anyway, Keaton’s dedication and hard work on Birdman paid off, with the film receiving critical acclaim and Keaton’s performance earning him an Oscar nomination. It’s clear that for the actor, the experience of filming this movie was not just tiring, but truly exhilarating.
Birdman can be rented on Apple TV.
