Quotes from Michael Keaton

My limited theater experience was when I was a kid starting out: two or three plays. I was good in one and mediocre in the other. My problem is that I have other interests.

'Birdman' is a very risky movie. I knew I wanted to do it just from watching Alejandro's other work. I told a friend, 'I would have done it based on 'Amores Perros' alone.'

I'd get scripts and think: 'What's the point of this?'

From the time I was a kid, I was crazy about anything having to do with the West. I'd look at all of these photos of Montana, and they all seemed so magical and majestic. I just wanted to go west, and I finally did it when I was barely 21. I went off to volunteer at a Navajo reservation in New Mexico.

I'm just shocked at how blatantly shallow people are sometimes.

If I didn't do 'Batman,' 'Birdman' wouldn't have happened.

Historically, I'm not a great patient when it comes to slowing down.

Sometimes I don't feel like an actor. Sometimes I speak about it like it was another job, and then I go, 'Wait a minute - I am one!'

You don't get bored with stuff like 'Birdman.'

There're only a few photographers I've ever felt really comfortable with.

I was never a huge 007 fan, but I sure liked Sean Connery. I'm sure Pierce Brosnan is good and has his moments, but I've not seen him; I've only seen bits and pieces on TV, so I can't really judge. Pierce looks very natural in the role.

Over the years, I think, people - actors, writers, whatever - lose their frame of reference. Their frame of reference is based on somebody else who did this or did that. Performances. So it just becomes a reflection of what already works. Like a warm-up. And that's an invitation to be inauthentic.

I used to say no to almost everything because I thought, 'I've got enough dough, I know what I want to do, and I know what I'm capable of.'

I liked going to Catholic school.

Anyone can be a celebrity now; this is not a big deal anymore.

Magna carta. Master charga.

Is this a great country, or what?

You tell me another gang that's got a dental plan.

It's great to make your own choices, but there's a price to pay. I could've made more money or been more famous. I could be the current groovy guy.

I watch 'Morning Joe' occasionally. I used to watch a lot more than I do now, but I watched it, and all of a sudden, there was this love fest, for crying out loud - this inexplicable love fest one morning - for The Donald.

I always knew the way in was Bruce Wayne. It wasn't Batman. It was never Batman. That was the key.

I saw some Pixar movies like 'The Incredibles' and thought, 'This is extraordinary. These are some of the best movies I've seen.'

My first day in grade school, I was plain scared. I left the comfort of my run-down house, which I loved, and went to school where it was cold, it smelled, the lighting was bad.

For years, I'd go to the movies and see guys doing Boston accents and think, 'Oh please, God, I hope I never have to do that.'