Tragic Details About Michael Keaton

The Disney Plus series "Dopesick" focuses on Purdue Pharma's involvement in the 1990s opioid crisis. In the series, Michael Keaton plays Samuel Finnix, a doctor who frequently prescribes OxyContin to his patients. The show's creator, Danny Strong, spoke with Metro about why Keaton was the ideal actor for this role. "Well, we offered him the part, he was the first person that we made an offer to," he said. Apparently, Keaton was also drawn to the series because of a legendary director's involvement. "We already had Barry Levinson attached to direct, which is amazing to have a legend like Barry — an Academy Award winner — attached to direct the pilot, and then episode two, so that was certainly appealing to Michael, I think."

But Keaton's biggest motivator in joining the cast was likely his personal connection to the plot. The actor lost a loved one to the opioid epidemic himself. "Michael was passionate about the subject matter because his nephew had passed away from an overdose," Strong revealed. "So it was something he was personally connected to, as well." Keaton's nephew, Michael Scichilone, died at the age of 34 "from a heroin and fentanyl overdose in 2016," per the Daily Mail. As a result, "Dopesick" likely spoke to Keaton on a much deeper level.

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