Michael Keaton Reveals His Worst Performance Ever—and He's Not Wrong
Michael Keaton's had one of the weirdest careers in Hollywood. He was Batman, he was Beetlejuice, and then... he was nowhere. For years. But even when things were rough, he never phoned it in — at least, not intentionally.
That said, he knows exactly which movie he'd like to erase from his résumé, and he's not shy about naming it. Speaking to The Times, Keaton flat-out said:
"I think I let [Tim Burton] 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."
Yes, 2019's Dumbo — Disney's half-hearted attempt to stretch a 64-minute cartoon into a 112-minute CGI Frankenstein — is the role Keaton can't stand. He played VA Vandevere, a cartoonishly evil circus tycoon, and despite his long history with Burton, Keaton says he had no handle on what the hell he was doing.
The film underwhelmed across the board:
- Budget: $170 million
- Global box office: $353 million
- Break-even point: Not even close, once marketing and overhead are factored in
- Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 46%
The sad part? Keaton's not even the worst thing in the movie. The entire project had the emotional range of a stockholder meeting. But he clearly expected more from himself — especially when working with Tim Burton, the guy who launched two of his most iconic roles.
Let's just say Dumbo didn't exactly cap off their long-awaited reunion on a high note.
To be fair, Keaton didn't disappear entirely post-90s. He had strong supporting turns in Jackie Brown, Out of Sight, The Other Guys — but it wasn't until 2014's Birdman that people remembered, oh right, Michael Keaton is insanely good when he cares. That role earned him:
- An Academy Award nomination for Best Actor
- A string of prestige roles afterward (Spotlight, The Founder)
- A delicious villain gig in Spider-Man: Homecoming
His proper redemption with Burton came via Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, where he once again went full chaos goblin — and reminded everyone that no one does unhinged like Keaton in pancake makeup.
So yes, he bombed in Dumbo. And yes, he knows it. But if that's the low point in a career that includes Batman, Beetlejuice, and Birdman, he's doing just fine.