Michael Keaton reveals film he 'sucked' in and why it still 'bugs' him to this day

Michael Keaton is not proud about one of his past performances.

The actor expressed disappointment over his performance in Tim Burton's 2019 live-action Dumbo film. In a recent The New York Times interview published on August 27, Michael along with his Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cast members, were speaking about the highly-awaited sequel. He responded to the journalist's statement about how he and the filmmaker's longtime collaboration had come to be from the first Beetlejuice in 1988. The two has gone to work on other things together such as Batman and Batman Returns.

"I love working with Tim so much, but I don’t think we ever really analyzed why we work pretty well together; we just do. I think I let him down on one movie, but that’s just me, and it bugs me to this day. I was clueless on 'Dumbo.' I sucked in 'Dumbo," the 72-year-old said to the outlet.

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Tim did not share the same sentiment as Michael and chimed in: "I don’t even know what you’re talking about, but whatever."

Michael played V. A. Vandevere, a corrupt business man and the main antagonist of the film. The Oscar nominee starred opposite a cast that featured Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Danny DeVito, Alan Arkin and Nico Parker. Dumbo earned mixed reviews from critics and so did Michael's performance. The live-action adaption of the 1941 animated film was Rotten in the critic side of on Rotten Tomatoes with 46% and had a fallen popcorn on the Popcornmeter with a 48% audience rating.

Dumbo also wasn't considered a financial success with it grossing $353 million worldwide against a $170 million budget. While the 66-year-old director didn't agree with Michael about his self-proclaimed sucky performance, he did convey a similar feeling of displeasure in the movie-making process of Dumbo. He disclosed to Variety in a recent August interview , how he was considering retiring after that film.

"Honestly, after 'Dumbo,' I really didn’t know. I thought that could have been it, really. I could have retired, or become… well, I wouldn’t have become an animator again, that’s over," Tim shared.

He previously spoke at the 2019 at the Lumière Festival about the experience saying, "The thing about ‘Dumbo’ is that’s why I think my days with Disney are done. I realized that I was Dumbo, that I was working in this horrible big circus and I needed to escape. That movie is quite autobiographical at a certain level."

In the same Variety interview, he mentioned how Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Netflx's Wednesday " reenergized" him. The second film in the Beetlejuice series just premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday, August 28. It will open in theater on September 6.