Michael Keaton: Birdman was ‘risky’

Michael Keaton thinks ‘Birdman’ was ”risky”.

The 63-year-old actor – who won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of Riggan in the critically acclaimed film – has admitted that they took a huge gamble with the movie.

He said: ”It was a risky gig, frankly, for all of us, but I never want to look back.

”To me, courage is the ultimate thing. You’ve gotta have guts. If you don’t, you should just do something else.”

The ‘Batman Returns’ star also admitted that he didn’t have the ”luxury” of having time to get into character but in the end didn’t consider it necessary because the character was so ”fundamental”.

He said: ”Honestly, I didn’t really have that luxury, and it didn’t really require it. It’s so fundamental and human.

”Did it help that I’m an actor? I suppose it helped, but so did Alejandro [González Iñárritu; the director] talking about the ego, and whether he was really an artist.

”I didn’t really have to think about it. It was really a day-to-day situation.”

Michael – who is also nominated for an Oscar for his part in the comedy film – flew back home especially to meet with Alejandro to discuss the movie, without knowing much about the part.

He told Collider.com: ”I was doing a movie and I got a call from my agent. She explained what it was and said, ‘They don’t want to tell you exactly what it is.’ So, I flew back for a day to meet Alejandro because any actor with a pulse wants to work with someone like him. I’d seen his movies and am an enormous fan.

”I just flew back to have this conversation, but he really couldn’t explain what the movie was that he wanted to make. He really was trying to explain it…

”It would have been so hard for me to say no. I was going to be in it, regardless of anything he said.”