Michael Keaton Shares Fond Memories of ‘Brilliant’ Costar Catherine O’Hara 1 Week After Her Death

Michael Keaton is sharing some of his fondest memories of his late Beetlejuice costar Catherine O’Hara one week after the actress died at 71.

“I remember we must have met or known each other a little bit because, like myself, she has a big family. She’s one of seven, and I’m one of seven. And so somehow we got to be friends,” Keaton, 74, recalled while attending Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals 2026 Man of the Year event in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday, February 6, People reported.

“I remember a night in Toronto where she had a summer [with her] brothers and sisters, and we were all shooting pool in some bar somewhere,” the Batman star continued. “But I think I had known her before, kind of hard having a hard time remembering it.”

Keaton — who said “like everyone else” he was a “giant fan” of O’Hara, adding that he was “the biggest SCTV fan,” referring to the Canadian sketch comedy show from which O’Hara got her start — went on to recall how everyone in the entertainment industry “knew how brilliant she was and how great she was,” further referring to O’Hara as a “kind of goddess” in comedy.

“I was doing this tiny little movie called Game 6, which is actually a really good little movie,” he continued. “It takes place in Boston, and Griffin [Dunne] and I were talking, and they hadn’t cast it [yet]. I said, ‘Hey, how [about] Catherine O’Hara as my ex-wife? Yeah, you think she’d do it?’ So I called her, and she came down.”

He added, “I guess that was after the first Beetlejuice. But I knew her before that. And to answer your question, I don’t remember what the first time was when I met her, but we got to be friends in addition to just working together as well.”