Michael Keaton is thankful a scheduling change made his role in Spider-Man: Homecoming possible, because the money was too good to turn down.
The Batman star has worked on a string of low-budget films in recent years, making his big career comeback in 2014’s Birdman, which earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination.
He has continued to take on roles in independent projects like his new release The Founder, a biographical film about the rise of the McDonald’s fast food chain, but Keaton will return to the blockbuster circuit with the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, starring Tom Holland as the web-slinging superhero.
Keaton will play Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but he reveals a scheduling conflict almost derailed his return to the superhero world when negotiations initially began early last year (16).
Reports at the time suggested salary issues prompted the 65-year-old to drop out of negotiations, but he tells Variety.com, “You think you can do it or want to do it and in fact I said no, because I couldn’t, it didn’t work in my schedule. Then I’m glad to say, they kind of shifted the scheduling and it worked out. So it fit in and I’m glad I did it.”
And he confesses the money didn’t hurt either: “I have played bad guys, but I’ve not played one of these villains,” he tells Parade magazine. “And also, to be 100 per cent honest, I’ve been doing movies where they don’t pay you very much. You can only do those for so long. Thank God my kid’s making a living. I’ve got stuff to pay for. I have a lifestyle I have to pay for.”
Michael’s “kid” is songwriter Sean Douglas, who has worked with Madonna, Nick Jonas, and Chris Brown, and penned hits including Demi Lovato‘s Heart Attack, Jason Derulo‘s Talk Dirty and Wiggle, David Guetta‘s Hey Mama, and Fifth Harmony‘s Sledgehammer.
