Michael Keaton Remembers Working With Catherine O’Hara: ‘Like Breathing Rarefied Air’

Two years ago, Oscar night. Backstage. Catherine O’Hara and I have mere minutes before we walk out to present, and we’re riffing on how to make a funny entrance.

She says, “How ‘bout when they introduce us, you go out real fast without waiting for me, and I’ll go—’Hey, wait!’”

“Yeah. I like it. Let’s do that,” I say.

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Ladies and gentlemen, here to present…

We enter. Do the bit. Crickets—mostly.

To this day, I replay it in my head, feeling like I let her down. Did I not sell it enough? Was I too subtle? Too real? I literally re-do the walk in my mind, trying to make it work.

With almost anyone else, I’d have forgotten it within seconds. But with her? It wasn’t about the joke landing. It was because I liked her so damn much. To work comedically with Catherine, as I was lucky to get to do not just at the awards show but on two Beetlejuice movies and projects like The Paper and Game 6 across nearly 40 years, was like breathing rarefied air. And between takes, it was the greatest hang on set. The only thing better was the hang off set—in real life, as I call it.

When she talked to you, she talked with you. When you told her a story, she looked right at you and was all in. A twinkle, a light, a glow—I don’t know what the hell it was.

To make her laugh was such a joy.

We had made tentative plans to get together in January. She and her husband Bo were going to come over to the house for dinner. I’m still kind of waiting.

Since her unthinkable passing at 71 on Jan. 30, I mostly managed to avoid any clips of her on my phone or TV, but I got blindsided by one that popped up—couldn’t avoid it. I watched. I felt sad. I turned off the light and closed my eyes to sleep.

About four minutes later, I woke myself up to the sound of laughing. It was me.

I smiled and fell asleep.

To have a woman as your friend is a great thing. To have a brilliantly funny woman as your friend is special. To have Catherine O’Hara as your friend is a blessing.

Among so many great comedians, past and present, Catherine stood out. Comedically? Gold. As a person? Platinum.

I’ll have dinner with Bo. You have laughs with John Candy.