Michael Keaton's Batman Backlash Was A Catalyst For Mark Hamill's Joker Audition
If you were paying attention to movie culture in the late 1980s, you'll likely recall the controversy surrounding the casting of Michael Keaton in the 1989 film "Batman." The director, Tim Burton, said in a 1989 New York Times article that he auditioned some "very good square-jawed actors," but that he preferred the inner turmoil communicated by Keaton; Burton's Batman was to be dualistic and tortured, not capable and exciting. Because Keaton was better known at the time for comedic roles — including Burton's own 1988 film "Beetlejuice" — some Batman fans balked. The sentiment seemed to say: How could a comedy actor capably communicate the action heroism of a character like Batman?
This author was only 10 years old when Burton's "Batman" was released in theaters, and there was no internet yet for angry fanboys to register their disapproval, so the backlash against Keaton's casting felt distant, informal, and nuncupative. But one can't deny that fan rancor was part of the conversation of "Batman" in the months leading up to its release. It seems that once the film was released, however, a lot of the complaints died down.
In 2023, the now-70-year-old Keaton has reprised his role as Batman in the new superhero film "The Flash." Early backlash, it seems, has evolved into present-day nostalgia.
But back in 1989, the backlash was very real. And it wasn't just about angry fans. Some actors saw Keaton's casting as Batman as a glorious willingness by studios to cast certain actors against type. One such actor was Mark Hamill. In a new interview with Wired, Hamill explained that Keaton's casting was the very thing that emboldened him to audition for roles out of his typical wheelhouse. As such, Hamill auditioned to play the Joker in "Batman: The Animated Series."
Auditioning to play the Joker
"Batman: The Animated Series" has, since its initial 1991 to 1995 run, become a widely beloved and highly praised piece of the Batman media canon, with many fans calling the late Kevin Conroy the best actor to have ever played the role. Although based on Burton's Gothic aesthetic, "The Animated Series" emerged as an entity of its own, telling stories of grief, violence, and madness beyond the typical maturity level of most Saturday morning cartoons. The series even debuted in primetime, so confident the producers were of its appeal to older audiences. In the series, Hamill played the Joker much differently than Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson that had come before. His Joker was a cackling maniac, yes, but also a comedically pathetic, put-upon figure. This was a joker that did indeed crack wise, and did indeed do some palpable harm on Gotham City, but who occasionally hated that no one got his jokes or that his schemes didn't work out (the Joker Fish episode is gold).
Hamill recalled the above-mentioned Keaton controversy sharply, saying:
"I just read for it. [...] I had a confidence that really helped me because there was this big outcry that Michael Keaton was gonna play Batman. 'Oh, he's Mr. Mom, he's a comedy actor.' I mean, they hadn't even seen him, and they didn't realize how great he would become. But, there was great controversy."
At that time, Hamill knew how he was perceived in the pop culture firmament. It had been eight years since he had last played the role of Luke Skywalker, but he understood that some casting agents could still only see that role in him. But then, if Keaton was only known for comedies and he could be Batman, why not buck the typecasting?
If Mr. Mom can be Batman...
In short, Hamill figured that if the star of "Mr. Mom" can be the Dark Knight, then Luke Skywalker can just as easily be the Clown Prince of Crime. Hamill said:
"When I went in, I thought, 'You think they're gonna hire Luke Skywalker to play the Joker? The fans will lose their minds!' [...] I was so sure that I couldn't be cast. I was completely relaxed. A lot of times there's performance anxiety because you want the part, here I knew I couldn't get the part, so, who cares? I drove out of the parking lot thinking, 'That's the best Joker they'll ever hear, and it's too bad they can't cast me.' And as soon as they did cast me, it reversed. I was like, 'Oh no, I can't do this!'"
Luckily, Hamill was able to leaven his panic into a steady gig. When asked what the secret was to making the Joker so appealing, Hamill merely said that it's fun to play a character that insane. The Joker sows chaos wherever he goes, and it's a great relief as an actor to merely cut loose in that fashion.
Hamill and Conroy always played their scenes well together, thanks to a recording setup where the two actors were allowed to be in the same room at the same time. For most animated projects, each voice actor is recorded separately and their conversations are constructed in editing. For "Batman: The Animated Series," Batman and the Joker read their lines together. By Hamill's and Conroy's estimation, this setup made for mutually better performances.
R.I.P. Kevin Conroy, and thanks to Michael Keaton for inadvertently giving audiences arguably the best Joker of all time.