How can you go from a morgue attendant in Night Shift to fighting crime in Batman? Just ask Michael Keaton, who had to contend with the Joker and then the Penguin three years later. Masses of complaints were sent to Warner Bros. when Keaton's casting was announced. This was the late '80s, of course, when action stars could eat a minotaur and wrestle a T-Rex. Keaton didn't look anything like the norm. I mean, he was fresh off starring in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and was more well known for his comedic roles than any for serious crime-fighting. In hindsight, no one had no need to worry about Keaton as Batman. It was Tim Burton who cast him in the role, and he obviously knew what he was going: Keaton handled the broody role with ease, coolly delivering lines like "Eat floor!" and "But a kiss can be deadlier... if you mean it." It was an important Batman film, because it dramatically changed the image of the on-screen character - a far cry from the Adam West TV series. While Keaton's more recent roles haven't exactly been pulsing action thrillers (he voiced Ken in Toy Story 3), you only need one action film to make the list, and he had two.
Mike Revell is the author of STONEBIRD (Quercus, 2015), and is an award-winning journalist. He has written for the Mirror and NFL UK. He lives near Cambridge, and has an unhealthy obsession with American football, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones.
