The late legendary actor Ray Liotta spoke about his decision to turn down the role of Batman in a previously unpublished interview.
Why did Ray Liotta turn down the role of Batman?
Deadline recently posted the interview with Liotta, which was conducted when he was doing press for the 2019 film Marriage Story. In said interview, the outlet asked him if he was offered the role of Batman in Tim Burton‘s 1989 superhero movie. Liotta noted that he was asked to speak with Burton and explained why he turned it down and how he regretted his choice.
“Something Wild came out, so I was getting attention from that,” Liotta explained. “My agent called me up and said, ‘Tim Burton would like to meet you. He’s doing a movie, Batman.’ There were never any superhero movies then. That was pretty much the first one. I said, ‘Are you f—ing nuts? Batman?!’ I’m going, ‘No, that’s stupid.’ Who was stupid? I was stupid because I didn’t know.”
Tim Burton’s Batman ended up starring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, who’d play the role again in 1992’s Batman Returns alongside fellow stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito. Keaton recently reprised the role of the Caped Crusader in this year’s DC Universe film The Flash.