Michael Keaton Says He ‘Sucked’ inDumbo: ‘It Bugs Me to This Day’

Mar. 15, 2025

Michael Keaton at a photocall for the movie ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ during the 81st Venice International Film Festival on August 28, 2024.Photo:Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

Michael Keatonis reflecting on an unfavored past performance.

Speaking alongside hisBeetlejuice BeetlejuicecostarsWinona Ryder,Catherine O’Haraand directorTim Burtonin a new interview withThe New York Times, published Tuesday, Aug. 27, the actor, 72, opened up about his role in Burton’s 2019 movie,Dumbo.

“I love working with Tim so much, but I don’t think we ever really analyzed why we work pretty well together; we just do," Keaton said. “I think I let him down on one movie, but that’s just me, and it bugs me to this day. I was clueless onDumbo. I sucked inDumbo.”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but whatever,” Burton, 66, added. of the live-action adaptation.

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Michael Keaton and Eva Green in ‘Dumbo’.Jay Maidment

Jay Maidment

Keaton played the role of V. A. Vandevere in the movie alongsideDanny DeVito’s Medici andColin Farrell’s Holt Farrier.

Based on the 1941 animated classic, the movie follows the journey of a young elephant that goes from being a laughing stock to a circus star.

Michael Keaton in ‘Dumbo’.Jay Maidment

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Tim Burton.Julien Hekimian/Getty

Julien Hekimian/Getty

“Honestly, afterDumboI really didn’t know. I thought that could have been it, really,” he toldVarietyearlier this month. “I could have retired, or become … well, I wouldn’t have become an animator again, that’s over,” he laughed, adding that bothWednesdayand theBeetlejuicesequel “did reenergize me.”

“Oftentimes, when you get into Hollywood, you try to be responsible to what you’re doing with the budget and everything else but sometimes you might lose yourself a little bit,” he added. “This reinforced the feeling for me that it’s important that I do what I want to do, because then everybody will benefit.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuicehits theaters Sept. 6 afteropening the Venice Film Festivalon Aug. 28.

source: people.com