Actor Michael Keaton had some choice words to say about an iconic character he’s known for playing while dodging a question about the Caped Crusader in a recent interview: “Who the f*** cares?”
The esteemed actor played DC’s Dark Knight in the Tim Burton-helmed 1989 film Batman as well as its sequel, Batman Returns, three years later. He famously turned down $15 million for the chance to play the character a third time in Batman Forever and the role was eventually helmed by Val Kilmer in the first of Joel Schumacher’s much maligned duology of Batman films.
The 70-year-old actor was recently asked in an interview with The Times (via Independent) why he turned down the role back then, with Keaton responding: “I don’t remember; that’s in my past. It’s 2021 or whatever the f*** it is – who gives a s***? Let’s talk about things that matter.”
He went on to say that he responded in a similar way “years ago” when “someone asked Batman questions.”
“I said, ‘You realize there’s a logjam of bodies floating down a river in Rwanda? Who the f*** cares about Batman?’”
Keaton was less blunt when the interviewer tried to grill him about details for his mysterious return as Bruce Wayne in the upcoming film The Flash, simply stating, “I’ll be frank, I don’t want to talk about it because it takes the fun away.”
He added that it took “a fair amount” of persuading for him to return to the role for the first time in 25 years, with the character long having left his “consciousness.”
You can currently catch Michael Keaton portray a conflicted doctor trying to do his part to hold big pharma drug manufacturers accountable for their contributions to the American opioid crisis in the eight-part Hulu series Dopesick, co-starring Rosario Dawson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Kaitlyn Dever, Will Poulter, and Peter Saarsgard.
