Michael Keaton may be changing his name professionally after 30 years in showbiz

Michael Keaton. Pic/AFP

Michael Keaton is considering a change to his professional name after more than 30 years in the industry, according to People.

The actor had to adopt the name "Keaton" when he started his career because the Screen Actors Guild doesn't allow members to use the same name, and both "Michael Douglas" and "Mike Douglas" were already taken.

Speaking with People magazine, Keaton revealed that his famous stage name was chosen on a whim.

"I was looking through -- I can't remember if it was a phone book," he said. "I must've gone, 'I don't know, let me think of something here.' And I went, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable.'"

Now, Keaton told People he was ready to update his stage name to "Michael Keaton Douglas."

He intended to debut the name in his recent film Knox Goes Away, but the plan didn't go through.

"I said, 'Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.' And it totally got away from me. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen," he said. However, his credit in the upcoming Beetlejuice sequel will appear as "Michael Keaton."

At a press conference during the Venice Film Festival, Keaton talked about returning to his iconic role in Beetlejuice. He joked about how the character has "matured" in the new movie.

"As suave and sensitive as he was in the first, I think he's even more so in this one. Just his general caring nature and his sense of social mores and his political correctness," he said.

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