The movie that sent Michael Keaton into Hollywood exile: “I have no idea why I’m here”
It is always clear when an actor is struggling to find work, something made obvious by a few giveaway indicators that sadly seem to ooze with their lack of enthusiasm and desperation.
It could be Sydney Sweeney’s role in nearly every advert being released, Johnny Depp’s attempt to become cool again by worming his way into the latest Dior campaign or a role in a shitty Netflix original series with no creative integrity. But in this day and age, when times are particularly tough and many people have to accept jobs they don’t like in order to pay the bills, there are few projects that point towards hard times.
Perhaps the one project that looms over them all is the Christmas movie, a film that can only be watched at a specific time of year and has run out of original concepts after the hundredth iteration of the ‘bad Santa’ story was released. We are running out of ways to make new stories out of the most magical time of the year, yet still, people keep trying, churning out new and increasingly annoying festive movies each year that only test our patience and make us feel like hibernating for the rest of the winter.
This was the kind of story that Michael Keaton once found his way into, starring in a festive project that ended up being the nail in his career coffin for a few years.
There have been many attempts to find new winter-related stories that could be sold and marketed during the festive season. Miraculously, Hollywood struck gold when they came up with the genius idea of creating a film about the origin story of Jack Frost, with Keaton starring in the 1998 film and playing the titular icy character.
The film follows a father who dies in a car accident but returns a year later as a snowman, making amends with his son, who thought he was gone forever. You can’t like everything you do at work, and acting is no different. Keaton isn’t exactly a fan of the production and has rarely shared many warm words about the project. Asked why he decided to take on the movie, he said, “I hadn’t done one before and I thought it would be nice to do one that would become a perennial.”
But perhaps more confusing than his part in the project was the distribution of the film, which somehow managed to find a release date in February.
Odd movies are one thing, but deciding to distribute a Christmas movie in February is quite another. It’s expected then that Keaton would feel so strange about it.”Can I be completely honest with you?” Keaton shared, “I have no idea why I’m here. I don’t know why they’re putting out the film in February. I just got off the plane. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Imagine signing on for three weeks of easy work to make a Christmas movie only to find yourself on the promotional run in February and you might well understand his consternation. The distribution system works in strange and mysterious ways, and if you’re going to end your career temporarily, you’d hope that it would at least be given the best shot at earning some money by coming out at the right time of year.
