8 Little Known Tics That Made Michael Keaton's Batman Awesome
3. He Came Up With Bruce Wayne's Defining Moments
Keatons approach to playing Bruce differed from all other portrayals of the character before or since; he didnt play him as a cocky playboy, but as a repressed rich kid who is fiercely uncomfortable in his own skin. When it came to defining the role Keaton shaped a lot of the key scenes himself. His first date with Vicki Vale sees him seated at the far end of the wide table, which was Keatons addition to show how out of touch he was with reality. Keaton said of the scene Its funny, but its also kind of pathetic, and not serious pathetic. He also ad-libbed the line I dont think Ive been in this room before. He also studied bats for the role and tried to add little touches of their behaviour where he could. It was his idea that Vicki Vale should wake up and see Bruce sleeping like a bat (which really should have been her first clue to his identity), to show just how deep into the mindset Bruce had gone.
