Why does Michael Keaton use a stage name? Because his real name was already taken. He ran into an issue with his name when he launched his acting career because according to the Screen Actors Guild's rules, no two actors can use the same name professionally. Unfortunately for Michael, whose real name is Michael Douglas, there was already another actor using the name Michael Douglas. He couldn't go by Mike either, because of talk show host Mike Douglas. Now, he wants to use a version of his real name: Michael Keaton Douglas.
The Beetlejuice actor doesn't remember exactly how he landed on the name Michael Keaton. It's been said that he selected the name somewhat randomly by looking through a phone book, though he tells People that he's not sure if that's true.
"I was looking through — I can’t remember if it was a phone book," Michael, 72, told the outlet.
He was looking through something — maybe a phone book, maybe not — and thought the name Keaton sounded "reasonable."
"I must’ve gone, 'I don’t know, let me think of something here.' And I went, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable,'" he told People.
More from LittleThings: Princess Diana Reportedly Had One Regret About Her Wedding & Wanted A Redo: 'A Disaster'
As for when he plans to update the name he's used for decades, Michael says he already tried to do so — but then forgot about it.
He intended to make the change with a recent film he directed: Knox Goes Away. However, "it totally got away from" him, he explained to People.
He gave people a heads-up, saying, "Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas," but ultimately, "forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that."
In his most recent project, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, he is still credited as Michael Keaton, but he told People that the name change "will happen" eventually.
Michael is not the only actor who has used a stage name simply because their real name was already taken by another actor.
In April, Emma Stone told The Hollywood Reporter that she uses the name Emma Stone because her real name, Emily Stone, was already being used by another actor.
She explained that some people she works with call her Emily instead of Emma. "I freaked out a couple of years ago. For some reason, I was like, 'I can’t do it anymore. Just call me Emily,'" she told the outlet.
When asked how she would feel if someone called her Emily instead of Emma, she said, "That would be so nice. I would like to be Emily."
