Michael Keaton is planning to use his real name for future projects.
The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star has revealed that he had to ditch his birth name for a stage name when starting his career in the '70s because the Screen Actors Guild prohibits members from using another member's professional name.
His birth name, Michael Douglas, was, of course, already taken by the Oscar-winning actor, while Mike Douglas was in use by a talk show host – so he had to get creative.
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Recalling how he picked out his stage name, the actor told People: "I was looking through – I can't remember if it was a phone book.
"I must've gone, 'I don't know, let me think of something here.' And I went, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable.'"
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For future projects, Keaton wants to change his official acting credit to Michael Keaton Douglas.
The Oscar nominee said he intended to do so on last year's Knox Goes Away — which he directed and starred in – but it "totally got away" from him.
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"I said, 'Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.' And it totally got away from me," he explained.
"And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen."
Keaton can currently be seen on the big screen in the long-awaited sequel to Tim Burton's 1988 hit Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sees the actor, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara reprising their respective roles as Beetlejuice, Lydia Deetz and Delia Deetz, while Wednesday actor Jenna Ortega has joined the star-studded cast as Lydia's teen daughter Astrid.
Keaton recently spoke about how the sequel improves upon its predecessor, sharing: "[It has] a stronger story. There's more of a connection for the audience in terms of the other characters. There's things in here that I wasn't ready for, that are beyond delightful."
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is out now in cinemas.
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Social Executive, Entertainment Portfolio After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022, where she wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona continued contributing to the site as a freelance reporter, becoming social executive for the Hearst UK entertainment portfolio in summer 2025. Iona now leads the DS social channels, covering red carpets with stars such as Paul Mescal, Austin Butler, and more.
