CNN
—

Michael Keaton can’t even remember how he got his professional name.

“I was flipping through — I can’t remember if it was a phone book,” the “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” star told People about the origins of his Keaton use. “I must have thought, ‘I don’t know, let me come up with something here.’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds reasonable.'”

The now 72-year-old actor explained that although he was born “Michael Douglas,” he was not allowed to use that name in Hollywood as another Oscar-winning actor and Kirk Douglas’ son, Michael Douglas, was already using the name.

Mike Douglas was also discussed by the famous talk show host.

The Screen Actors Guild prohibits two actors from using the same name, so Keaton chose Keaton. And while he’s made quite a name for himself, the actor would like to be known professionally as “Michael Keaton Douglas.”

He had planned to do just that for his recent directorial effort, “Knox Goes Away.” In the rush of making the film, however, Keaton forgot to seal it on screen.

“I said, ‘Hey, just as a heads up, my credit goes to Michael Keaton Douglas.’ And it completely slipped my mind,” he explained. “And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create it. But that’s what’s going to happen.”

In his final starring role, the sequel “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” he is listed as “Michael Keaton.”