BATMAN August 93
Michael Keaton raises his trademark arched eyebrows when pressed about his recent close encounter with the works of William Shakespeare. The heretofore comic actor, who broke his mould when he donned the bat rubber cape for Tim Burton's Batman blockbusters, radiates a quirky rage that couldn't be more suited to Shakespearean melodrama. But Keaton is more aware that anyone that 'people will talk' about his appearance in Kenneth Branagh's new film version of the Bard's Much Ado About Nothing. "There's a definite barrier that exists between what an actor can do and what is expected of a specific actor," he explains, "But I've learned that there's more satisfaction in taking a risk and missing the target than being predictable and having a hit. Nevertheless, I have to admit that the last thing that I ever expected to be doing was working on a Shakespeare play in Tuscany for a bunch of British guys. Ernest Hemingway or Arthur Miller maybe. But somehow, Shakespeare, seemed a very, very tall order for Michael Keaton fans."Indeed, the actor found himself in the south of France" with wine and bread and cheese and women in skimpy clothes" reading aloud the words of the Bard with Branagh himself, Denzil Washington, Keanu Reeves, Robert Sean Leonard, Ben Elton and Oscar-winner Emma Thompson.
HARD WORK
He plays Dogberry, the roguish, hard-bitten clown who meanders through this slender tale of love and infidelity usually performed on stage in a "twee, Elizabethan, cake and Ale" presentation. He had told the actor that he wanted performers who would feel free to flout the traditional 'fruity voiced, tight- assed museum acting that the comical play usually attracts. But Keaton admitted that he didn't initially share his director's confidence. "I'll be honest with you," offers the actor, "I said that it could go wrong. I wanted to do it and I knew that I would give hard work. Yeah, it was risky. But for the first time in a long while, I got a real thrill about being offered this part. It wasn't as crazy as it sounded, but I know that a lot of people have a hard time identifying me in the role." "I was never a child of that particular school of performing and I never had an affinity with it. But I've always believed in stretching as an actor, and I think that Ken was offering an interpretation which was within my stretch. I'm no Lawrence Olivier, I'm no Jack Benny either. But I really have to admit that I was a little scared on taking on this project."
FAILURES
Keaton is a performer who is no stranger to taking risks. He was a controversial choice for the Bruce Wayne/Batman role in the 89 blockbuster, and in the wake of its success he seized the chance to play three characters that unhinged his fans even further. He was an addict in CLEAN AND SOBOR and a menacing baddie in PACIFIC HEIGHTS, and a shady policeman in ONE GOOD COP, none of which achieved the levels of success that Batman had. Keaton recalls a conversation with Batman co-star Jack Nicholson in London back in 89: "Jack and I were on the town while we were filming the first movie and he said to me, 'This movie's gonna be a hit and if it is we could fail three times and we'd still be in good shape.' And it's proved to be true, because I had three critical failures after Batman, and I'm still working. But, I didn't initially go out and make three turkeys," he adds with another expressive eyebrow flicker,"What I think Jack really meant was we could go out and really do what we want. And I guess, after BATMAN RETURNS, which was another extraordinarily successful movie for me, I wanted to do MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, which might be a huge success in its own right, but not for me as Michael Keaton." "Certainly, it turned out to be fabulous for me as an actor. I was free to expand creatively and characteristically. I don't go in for that intense acting stuff, but I tell you, I think I performed some of my best stuff out there in Tuscany." "I think that it has given me a lot of confidence to expand further and do things I probably wouldn't have even considered. But that's only half of the problem that I have. The other half is convincing the public that I can play a nasty bastard or someone that isn't really likeable. I've stopped considering the Bruce Wayne/Batman stuff in that mould, because it had a level of acceptability now."
EXCUSES
Still, Keaton has a willingness to play nasties, con men, addicts and reprobates: "I don't believe in making excuses for your character. You don't say 'I'm not really like this, but I'm showing you I'm acting like this.' "I'll tell you, actors are notorious, and a string of famous actors who have been lauded as geniuses have been guilty of rationalising what their character would do, do they're (a) likeable, (b) acceptable, (c) sexy and strong, whatever. Which brings me back to my point for making excuses for your character. You've got to be willing to go down!" Having now gone out on a limb on every kind of characteristic chance, is there anything which Keaton would see as a major risk? "I'm sure that actors only have a certain amount of lives," he suggests, another of those eyebrows signalling bruised acceptance," I think I've been strung out on about four so far. But I've been lucky lately. Much ado should pay me back one or two, but as an actor, you're always going to slip up. The trick is knowing when. And the hard thing is knowing how to pick yourself up."

Michael Keaton Article's Page 4