Michael Keaton, 73, is going to start using real name after it was banned-Kitty Chrisp-Entertainment – Metro

Michael Keaton isn’t actually called Michael Keaton (Picture: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Michael Keaton wants to start using his real name, which is Michael Douglas, after years of going by his adopted moniker.

The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star, 73, hasn’t been allowed to go by his birth name due to it being the same as 79-year-old Oscar winner Michael Douglas, 79, and late daytime host Mike Douglas, in a decision cast by the Screen Actors Guild.

However, he has come up with a way around it and plans to be credited as Michael Keaton Douglas.

Recalling how he picked his fake surname, Keaton – who was born Michael John Douglas – told PEOPLE magazine: ‘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”.’

The Batman star had intended to use Michael Keaton Douglas for his director credit for 2023 crime thriller Knox Goes Away, but didn’t manage to sort it out on time.

His real name is actually Michael Douglas (Picture: JB Lacroix/FilmMagic)

Because of the pre-existing Michael Douglas, Keaton’s birth name wasn’t allowed in Hollywood again (Picture: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

He explained: ‘I said, “Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.”

‘And it totally got away from me. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen.’

The Jack Frost star – who is credited as Michael Keaton for his latest movie, the Beetlejuice sequel – previously denied choosing Keaton because he had a crush on actress Diane Keaton.

In an interview with the now-defunct sports and pop-culture blog Grantland, he said: ‘I feel bad! She’s probably badly bugged by that story!

‘The truth is I’m trying to figure out how John Cougar Mellencamp did it, because I like my name, I’m proud of my name. Douglas, you know, it’s my Dad’s name.’

Ironically, Diane also had to change her name – and chose Keaton – after there was also an actress with her birth name Diane Hall.

SAG-AFTRA has a policy for actors looking to sign up to the union that no two have the same name so to avoid confusion.

When signing up for the union, the new member form states: ‘It is SAG-AFTRA’s objective that no member uses a professional name which is the same as, or resembles so closely as to tend to be confused with, the name of any other member.’

He is now going back to his roots though and will go by Michael Keaton Douglas (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Pictures)

It continues: ‘SAG-AFTRA urges all applicants and members to minimise any personal or individual risk of liability by avoiding a name that may cause confusion.

‘SAG-AFTRA shall not be responsible or legally liable in the event an applicant or member uses a professional name that may cause any confusion.’

This is why some actors include the first letter from their middle names in their professional titles, as is the case with Michael J Fox, who chucked in a J to differentiate from the late actor Michael Fox.

However, others may stray from their birth name for totally different reasons, like if they’re a nepo-baby who doesn’t want to be associated with famous parents.

Or simply stars may just want a Hollywood-worthy stage name like Whoopi Goldberg as opposed to Caryn Johnson…

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