Michael Keaton Wasn't Sure He Wanted To Be In 'Batman' With Jack Nicholson | Letterman

Michael talks about his iconic role as the Caped Crusader.
(From "Late Night," air date: 6/22/89)

#michaelkeaton #batman #letterman

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Welcome to the Letterman YouTube Channel, home to all your favorite clips from Late Night and Late Show - as well as conversations with the writers, producers and performers who helped make it all happen. The language may strike you as quaint & flowery, the clothing comically lacey & ornate — but that’s how things were back in this colorful and now bygone era.

[tomquigley]

Met him once on accident in the 90's through an industry job I had. Actually the most normal, polite and friendly movie star there is. He talked about his son and lawn mowers like a next door neighbor. Guys alright.

[marvinshenk]

Michael Keaton is such a good guy. He is the Batman we all need.

[tonyrodney]

I was a PA on White Noise. There was panic on the walkies because they lost Keaton and didn't know where he was. I was positioned on the street, close to a 711 and I see him come out chowing down on a hotdog. Dude is so down to earth.

[DanJackson]

Before Batman 89 came out, everyone was complaining about the Michael's casting. Wouldnt shut up about it. "Mr. Mom / Beetlejuice as Batman? Hes too short... hes not muscular.. boooo".. it came out, biggest movie of the year. Now? Everyone says "Best Batman Ever".

[dgm]

I've watched a lot of clips of Michael Keaton on Letterman and I'm always struck by how genuinely delighted they are to see each other.

[shahartley]

Michael Keaton is still the best Batman to date for me. And he's a great actor. 'Batman', 'Beetlejuice', 'Pacific Heights', 'My Life', etc. Very different roles & he pulled them all off.

[Andrew-Antioch-Kim]

Michael Keaton is looking great for his age and is one of the more underracted actors!

[scottthompson]

The most batman actor that's ever lived on film and in real life. ICONIC AND THE FIRST TWO MOVIES ARE **LEGEND**

[usuck]

I remember being one of those people who was skeptical of him playing Batman after he played the iconic Beetlejuice just the year before. I just thought it was weird at the time. Same happened when they announced that H. Ledger was gonna play the Joker in “The Dark Knight”. Glad they both nailed their respective roles!

[Mgoblue]

Keaton is due in all the accolades he receives. Birdman, Beatle, juice, out of sight, well, those are my most memorable performances anyway.

[SebastianTinajero]

Hahaha I can’t believe Michael Keaton just spills out a giant spoiler nonchalantly, love him

[privatepenguin]

In one of my two times being in the Letterman audience...Michael Keaton was one of his guests. But this wasn't it. It was on the Late Show...I think '96 and he was promoting a movie called Multiplicity if I remember correctly. I love Dave and Michael's chemistry....they have such a long history together going back to the Mary Tyler Moore variety show (...if you want cringeworthy...check THAT out 🤣).

[brian-ldvd]

Johnny Dangerously is one of the funniest movies of all time. Classic.

[accepthisname]

34 years later and he played Batman once more, and dammit I'm ready for more. Batman Beyond next!

[alphadrewaz]

God bless Michael Keaton, terrific actor. Batman '89 is a true classic.

[JosephNJ]

Michael Keaton was _THE BEST_ batman, which says a lot since Christian Bale, also a great actor, also played Batman.

[TimmehJay]

The vast majority of us did not see Keaton as Batman at the time. Most of us saw him as a goofy comedic actor and it was almost an insult to think he would be cast as Batman. Boy were we wrong.

[gordon]

Birdman was one of his best. He was robbed of an Oscar.

[BlueLeopard]

Can't believe he gave away such a huge part of plot like that lol. Finding out about Joker killing Bruce Wayne's parents was one of those "wow moments" when seeing the film for the first time.

[kstepko]

“If there’s trouble, I’m ready.”
That’s adorable.