Michael Keaton wants to use his real name in the future

Most people know him as Michael Keaton, but Michael Douglas wants to be called Michael Douglas again. When he entered show business in the 1970s, years after Wall-Street Star Michael Douglas, a rule of the Screen Actors Guild prohibited him from using the stage name of another member – and Mike Douglas was also taken. The actor tells People that he plans to use the name Michael Keaton Douglas in future projects. The 72-year-old says he planned to use the name in Knox leaveswhich he directed and starred in earlier this year, but in the stress of filming he forgot to “give them enough time to put him in.”

The actor will play Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuicewhich is released on Friday. According to the Hollywood legend, he chose his stage name from a phone book, but he tells People he can't remember exactly where it came from. “I looked through it — I can't remember if it was a phone book,” he says. “I must have thought, 'I don't know, let me come up with something here.' And I thought, 'Oh, that sounds reasonable.'” NBC News points out that many other actors use stage names because of SAG rules, including Emma Stone, who used the name because Emily Stone was taken, and another Keaton: Diane Keaton decided to use her mother's maiden name because SAG already had a Diane Hall under contract. (More stories about Michael Keaton.)