Michael Keaton is looking back on a performance he wasn’t pleased with.
During a recent interview published on Tuesday, Aug. 27, Keaton, 72, spoke alongside his Beetlejuice Beetlejuice co-stars Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and director Tim Burton.
The actor reflected on his role in Burton’s 2019 film, 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 shared.
“I think I let him down on one movie, but that’s just me, and it bugs me to this day. I was clueless on Dumbo. I sucked in Dumbo.”
Burton, 66, responded with humor, saying, “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but whatever,” referring to the live-action adaptation.
Keaton portrayed V. A. Vandevere in Dumbo, acting alongside Danny DeVito as Medici and Colin Farrell as Holt Farrier.
The film, based on the 1941 animated classic, tells the story of a young elephant who rises from being a subject of ridicule to becoming a circus star.
Keaton’s remarks about his performance come on the heels of Burton revealing that he had considered retiring after making Dumbo.
In an earlier interview this month, Burton admitted, “Honestly, after Dumbo I really didn’t know.
I thought that could have been it, really. I could have retired, or become … well, I wouldn’t have become an animator again, that’s over,” he joked, noting that working on Wednesday and the Beetlejuice sequel “did reenergize me.”
Burton further explained, “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.
This reinforced the feeling for me that it’s important that I do what I want to do because then everybody will benefit.”
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on Sept. 6, following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 28.
