The man behind the original Batman mask
I saw Michael Keaton speak at the Cinequest Film Festival in
downtown San Jose over the weekend. He received the Maverick Spirit
Award for innovation in films. In the past, film festival board of
directors have honored such actors as Ian McKellen, William H. Macy
and Lili Taylor.
The man behind the original Batman mask
I saw Michael Keaton speak at the Cinequest Film Festival in downtown San Jose over the weekend. He received the Maverick Spirit Award for innovation in films. In the past, film festival board of directors have honored such actors as Ian McKellen, William H. Macy and Lili Taylor.
Keaton, who is best known for his turn as Batman, and whose recent film credits include “White Noise” and “Herbie Fully Loaded” seemed at first an unusual pick. But a review of many of his credits, and his recent directorial debut make it clear that he is an artist out of the mainstream.
One of the best things about events like this is a chance to see the person behind the chatacters– and I don’t mean like the US Weekly feature “celebrities are just like us.”
At the event, audience members first watched a short film that recapped some of Keaton’s best moments. It reminded me of some of my favorite films that I haven’t seen in ages, such as “Beetlejuice,” “Mr. Mom,” and “Much Ado About Nothing,” and it gave me a glimpse of some films I haven’t seen that I’d like to watch.
After reviewing the film clips, Keaton came out on stage at the California Theater in jeans, a gray long-sleeve shirt and white sneakers. That’s when the question and answer period started with actress Jennifer Siebel as the moderator. Siebel is starrring in the new TV series “Life.” What struck me most when Keaton started talking is how far from the Hollywood limelight he is. When he talked about his family, it was all new news to me. It struck me that he isn’t one to be seen in the tabloids as with younger Hollywood stars.
Keaton grew up in Pennsylvania, the youngest of seven, and he said from a young age he knew he was different.
“It happened sometime without me really realizing it,” Keaton said, of being bitten by the acting bug. “I remember reading a lot – western, war stories, breaking out of prison – and I remember closing my eyes and trying to imagination what it felt like to be there.”
Keaton first started acting when he took a drama class in college. He wrote and started acting in plays. His first big movie gig came as Bill Blazejowski in “Night Shift,” a film about two late-night morgue employees who turn the late-night work into a party.
From there his career blossomed when he was cast as a down on his luck dad who decides to stay home with the kids at a time when stay-at-home dads were a rarity. The movie still makes me laugh when Jack (Keaton) tries to convince his little boy to give up his woobie, a ratty baby blanket he carries around like Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons.
One thing Keaton said that was interesting is that he rarely watches himself in films because he doesn’t want to second guess his performance.
“You have to be all committed to it,” Keaton said. “If you are going to be in a big rubber suit, you better commit.”
The rubber suit refers to his days as Batman. Keaton played the superhero in the 1989 film “Batman” and in 1992’s “Batman Returns.”
As someone with claustrophobia, the tight-fitting suit made playing the role hard for Keaton. For the second film, the costumer designer made a sort of escape clause so he could get out quickly if he needed to.
His Bruce Wayne is serious, but has a sense of humor that plays well against villians such as Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. By comparison the two films that followed, which starred Val Kilmer and George Clooney in the lead roles conesecutively, were much more campy and not as well acted. The more recent movie starring Christian Bale “Batman Begins” has a much darker, realistic feel to it and the sequel, “The Dark Knight,” is likely to follow suit.
During the audience Q&A session, one audience member asked Keaton what he thought of the other Batman movies. He said since he rarely watches himself on screen, he wasn’t really interested in the other films. While he hadn’t seen the most recent film, he did say he thought it would be good because Christian Bale is a great actor.
Though the Batman films are one of the highlights of his acting career, Keaton has started to focus on directing. He recently directed “The Merry Gentleman,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film stars Keaton as Frank Logan, as well as Kelly MacDonald and Tom Bastounes. The movie follows a woman who leaves an abusive relationship to move to the city where she starts a relationship with a suicidal hitman – without knowing his career or state of mind.
“I read the script and then I put it down,” Keaton said. “I asked a lot of questions and thought I might want to direct it.”
As a first-time director, he said the best part was not having to sit around in a trailer all day waiting for his turn on camera.
Melissa Flores can be reached at mf*****@pi**********.com.
