According to Hollywood legend, when Michael Keaton was pursuing a career in show business in the 1970s, he got his stage name from a phone book.

He could not use his birth name, Michael Douglas, because the Screen Actors Guild prohibits its members from using the professional name of another member.

The union already had a Michael Douglas (the future Wall Street Oscar winner) and a Mike Douglas (the talk show host). So he became Michael Keaton.

When asked about the phone book story, Keaton tells PEOPLE he’s not sure exactly how he got the nickname that appears on dozens of movie posters.

“I was flipping through — I can’t remember if it was a phone book,” says Keaton, 72, occasionally raising his famously expressive eyebrows as he speaks. “I must have thought, ‘I don’t know, let me come up with something here.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable.'”

And while the name “Keaton” has served him well, he’d like to return to using a combination of his birth and stage names: Michael Keaton Douglas, for professional projects.

He planned to do this in his most recent directorial effort, Knox is leavinga dramatic thriller that came out earlier this year, but he “forgot” about it amid the stress of making the film.

“I said, ‘Hey, just as a heads up, my credit goes to Michael Keaton Douglas.’ And it completely slipped my mind. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create it. But that’s what will happen,” continues Keaton, whose name appears as Michael Keaton in his latest film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuicethe sequel to the 1988 hit comedy Beetle juice.

In the cover story, Keaton — who also appears in the dramedy Benignwhich will be released in October, looks back on his rise from humble beginnings to movie star.

Keaton is the youngest of seven children born to George Douglas, a civil engineer, and Leona, a homemaker. He says his childhood in the Pittsburgh suburbs was “wonderful,” even though his parents were not well off.

Keaton, who wrestled with his brothers and watched westerns on TV, knew as a child that he could captivate audiences.

“I was always entertaining. Because when you’re the youngest, you have a built-in audience. And they were receptive,” he says. “I realized I could make people laugh and get out of trouble or into trouble.”

It was not until he dropped out of Kent State University in Ohio as a young man that he began to take acting seriously.

He got a part in a local production of David Rabe’s black comedy Sticks and bonesand a newspaper critic noticed it. “Someone said, ‘Hey, nice review.’ I had no idea what he was talking about,” Keaton recalled.

It would take Keaton several more years of working odd jobs, including breaking down sets and lighting shows at a PBS station for $2 an hour, before he got his breakthrough role in the 1979 sitcom Working stiffness opposite Jim Belushi. It was canceled after one season.

While many actors would have panicked, Keaton says he remained calm: “I thought, ‘Well, if it doesn’t work out, I know I can do a lot more.’ I always knew I could get a job, find a little apartment, buy a cheap car owned by seven other people, and I’d be fine. That takes a lot of pressure off.”

To say that things turned out well for Keaton is an understatement.

In the 1980s he made a name for himself as a sought-after comedic actor, thanks to roles in films such as Night shift opposite Henry Winkler and Mr. Mother with Teri Garr before starring in films such as Beetle juice And Batmanwhich shot his career into the stratosphere.

He has recently received many accolades: Keaton was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor for his role as an actor trying to revive his career in the 2014 film. Birdmanand he won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his work as a doctor dealing with the opioid crisis in the 2021 Hulu miniseries Sick of the dope.

And while it’s an honor to be nominated, it’s also a lot of fun to win. “It’s definitely fun,” Keaton says. “I don’t downplay that kind of stuff.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in theaters from Friday, September 6.

For more on Michael Keaton, buy the new issue of PEOPLE.