Lost: Why did Michael Keaton turn down the role of Jack?

Why did Michael Keaton, known for his roles in Batman, Spotlight and Beetlejuice, have to turn down the role of Jack in the Lost series when he was offered it on set?

Remember that Lost opens with a plane crashing and organizing the rescue of its passengers. Everything is going well until strange things happen.

In the early 2000s, when ABC was planning what would become the Lost series, its creators Jeffrey Lieber, JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof imagined that the character of Jack would be very important to the beginning of the series and immediately killed the smoke monster. During the pilot on the island!

this epoch, the role is offered to actor Michael Keaton. The actor sees it as a great opportunity and, above all, a not very binding and lucrative contract, as he has to appear in a good position in the series’ marketing for its launch and only appear in the double opening episode.

But as development progresses, Abrams, Lieber and Lindelof gradually transform Jack’s character to make him the show’s headliner. Having become famous to the point of becoming a regular, Jack Shepard is no longer what Michael Keaton signed up for.

Feeling betrayed, Keaton left the project entirely and would not appear in any of the following seasons. However, he had no grudge against the series format as he found himself in miniseries such as Dopesick or The Company and also began his career on television.

As for Jack, he is finally explained by Matthew Fox, and six seasons. The actor, who’s been missing for a bit since 2010 (except for a few cameos, notably in Bone Tomahawk), will return with Last Light, a sci-fi miniseries that will be released in France on April 7 on Prime Video.