His golden character arc
“The pyramid goes like this, you teeter from the top, that’s life,” says Keaton, explaining that any work slowdown is then magnified. “So if I wasn’t seen for a year in, say, 1983, nobody would have cared. But suddenly some guy in Poland is freaked out over Batman along with 9 zillion other people, and all bets are off, everything changes. Then that year you’re not seen, it’s in a much brighter spotlight.”
There were vibrant roles such as in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 Jackie Brown. But Keaton rolled into the 2000s far from that pyramid peak and apparently not too bothered. He was raising his son, acclaimed musician Sean Douglas (with Keaton’s ex-wife, actress Caroline McWilliams, who died in 2010). Keaton says he was also living it up, enjoying life.
“One thing about those fallow periods was I’m out having fun. I’m going around the world, getting on helicopters with snowboards or with fishing rods. I’ve seen some fairly attractive women in Europe. I’m having fun, dude,” says Keaton. “And at some point, you look at your bank account and you go back to work.”
Keaton’s role in Disney’s 2005 Herbie Fully Loaded alongside a fresh-faced Lindsay Lohan was what he calls “a potential paycheck.” Potential, because a profitable sequel never materialized. But the role afforded a chance to wait for the right power role that would shoot him back to the top.
“I’m sitting back waiting for the pitch to hit. You know what I mean? The one you know you can crush,” says Keaton. That home run came for Keaton as an over-the-hill former comicbook movie star looking for his theater break in writer/director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman.
“Birdman, for sure, was ‘Boom!’ ” says Keaton dramatically. “Someone put me in the rubber band and shot me out.”
During the sustained Birdman awards hype, Founder director John Lee Hancock was inspired to cast Keaton in the Kroc role for the warts-and-all look at the famed McDonald’s chief.
“Birdman put Michael on the list for The Founder, to be completely honest,” says Hancock, a longtime Keaton admirer. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t have fought for him anyway. But Birdman made it a very easy choice, yeah, we’re going to Michael.”
Keaton shows the same magnetism as the American business icon who died in 1984 after making McDonald’s the most successful food operation in the world with its signature golden arches. Michael Keaton,
“When you’re with Michael, he lights up a room. He’s very focused in his conversations,” says Hancock. “Kroc had the same attributes. When Kroc was on point, he was on point.”
The Founder tells the story of Dick and Mac McDonald (Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch), one the McDonald’s corporation downplays. The duo were true 1950s pioneers, creating the revolutionary fast-food approach to burger preparation and even the name for their San Bernardino, Calif., hamburger stand.
Kroc, an often-struggling milkshake-machine salesman with big dreams, was inspired. He joined the brothers in business, charged with expanding the brand and franchises. Even the title The Founder is ironic, knocking Kroc’s institutionally backed boasts of establishing the institution.
“If someone said, ‘Ray Kroc, quickly, who was he?’ Most people would go, ‘Oh, yeah, McDonald’s.’ But McDonald’s how? McDonald’s why?” asks Keaton. “I thought he was, in fact, the founder, that Ray Kroc started everything. I didn’t know there were McDonald brothers.”
“The fact (Kroc) wanted to push this ‘I’m the founder’ idea,” says Keaton. “It’s like, ‘Ray, really? Come on, dude.’ ”
The Founder shows Kroc playing hardball with the brothers, taking over the company and even forcing them to remove the name from their own restaurant. Keaton was inspired by the Machiavellian turn.
“Kroc’s career, I admire quite a bit. Hard worker. Not given anything. This is a bootstrap story. I love his work ethic and his drive,” says Keaton. “And then he certainly goes south. What makes a guy keep turning the screw, shoving the knife in deeper? Ray was brutal, in the end.”
Keaton agreed with Hancock’s vision that there should be no character sugar-coating or unnaturally happy ending.
“I told John there were 100 others who could do this better if he was looking for that actor winking, saying, ‘Please love me anyway,’ or ‘I’m not really that bad,’ ” says Keaton. “My job is to tell the story. And it’s a role which all of a sudden turns.” Keaton keeps his own career turn moving, venturing back to the comic-book world as the villainous Vulture in Marvel’s SpiderMan: Homecoming (July 7). He says he tried to turn down the plum part because his packed schedule has been too stretched. He hasn’t even had time to give a needed redecoration to his office, which is sparsely appointed with an unused, outdated fax machine in the corner. But his rejection only pushed Marvel to rearrange the shooting schedule to make it more agreeable for Keaton. He has had no regrets.
“It’s jumping into a giant Marvel machine, and I’m just a little piece of it. But it’s an amazing machine to be inside of,” says Keaton.
He admits he often thanks the Big Guy Upstairs for his good fortune. “If not every morning, then literally before I go to bed at night, you know how they say, ‘That’s what your knees are for,’ ” says Keaton, managing another smile. “Man, I’m so grateful. And, yeah, man, I’m having a ball.” The most adorable star onscreen at the Globes was Sunny Pawar, the 8-year-old Indian actor who steals the show in Lion. Pawar and his Lion co-star Dev Patel hit the stage to present clips from their movie, which was up for best picture, drama category. When it came time for Pawar to speak, Patel lifted the pint-size actor. Move over, kids from Stranger Things and Jacob Tremblay, there’s a new child actor to win our hearts. Taking the trophy for best actress in a TV musical or comedy show, Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross delivered a speech dedicated to those who inspired her along the way. “This is for all of the women of color and colorful people whose stories, ideas, thoughts are not always considered worthy and valid and important,” she said. “But I want you to know that I see you, we see you.” Ross became the first black woman to win in this category since 1983, when Debbie Allen won for Fame. Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood made a statement with her Golden Globes look. The actress ditched the traditional gown for a suit, which had a purpose. “I decided early in the year not to wear any dresses to awards shows to be a gentle reminder to young girls and women that you’re not required (to wear) one if you don’t want to, to really be yourself and that your worth is more than the dresses that you wear,” she told USA TODAY on the red carpet. Wood explained to Ryan Seacrest that two unconventional menswear icons inspired her evening’s suit: David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich. In accepting the award for best actor in a musical or comedy, Gosling gave a heartfelt shout-out to partner Eva Mendes. “While I was singing and dancing and playing piano and having one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film,” the star said, “my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer.” He dedicated his award to her brother, Juan Carlos, who died in April at age 53.