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50 free Birdman Movie trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Birdman trivia quiz covers Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2014 Best Picture winner, subtitled The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance. It follows Riggan Thomson through his Broadway adaptation of a Raymond Carver story: the light that falls on Ralph, Mike Shiner's gin and prop-gun complaints, the fire-escape lockout and the underwear walk through Times Square, the critic who promises to kill the play, the real gun in the final scene and the hospital window. Behind the scenes it covers the continuous-take idea everyone told Iñárritu not to try, the four writers working over Skype, the abandoned ending with Johnny Depp, the Batman jokes Keaton asked about, the actor originally cast as Mike, the proxy stage built at Sony, the St. James Theatre shoot, the Alexa cameras and 18mm lens, and Antonio Sánchez's all-drum score that the Academy ruled ineligible. It finishes with the 87th Academy Awards, where the film tied The Grand Budapest Hotel and won without an editing nomination. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries before publishing.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed Birdman?
Alejandro González Iñárritu
He won Best Director again the following year for The Revenant.
Q 02Who plays Riggan Thomson?
Michael Keaton
The role revived his career and earned him an Oscar nomination and his first Golden Globe.
Q 03What is the film's parenthetical subtitle?
The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
The last option is the Carver story Riggan is adapting.
Q 04Which author's short story is Riggan adapting for Broadway?
Raymond Carver
Carver's widow Tess Gallagher loved the script and said he would be laughing about it.
Q 05In which years did Riggan star in the Birdman superhero trilogy?
1989 to 1992
The 1992 date is one of several nods to Keaton's Batman films.
Q 06Who plays Mike Shiner, the volatile method actor?
Edward Norton
Another actor was originally set for the role but was switched out over scheduling.
Q 07How does Mike come to join the play?
A light falls on the actor Ralph, and Lesley suggests her boyfriend
The accident happens the day before the first preview.
Q 08Who plays Sam, Riggan's daughter and assistant?
Emma Stone
She's a recovering addict who sets up his Twitter account.
Q 09Who plays Jake, Riggan's lawyer and producer?
Zach Galifianakis
Iñárritu called casting him 'a bet' that paid off because he was also sensitive.
Q 10Why does Mike break character during the first preview?
His gin has been replaced with water
He also complains the prop gun doesn't look natural.
Q 11What triggers the backstage brawl between the two lead actors?
A New York Times interview in which the newcomer steals the star's reason for doing Carver
Jake persuades Riggan to carry on with the play.
Q 12How does Riggan end up walking through Times Square in his underwear?
His robe gets stuck in a fire escape door while he smokes
He re-enters through the audience to finish the scene, and the footage goes viral.
Q 13Who plays the theatre critic Tabitha Dickinson?
Q 21Which star was to appear in the film's abandoned original ending?
Johnny Depp
He would have been in Riggan's dressing room with a Pirates of the Caribbean poster asking 'What are we doing here, mate?'
Q 22What was the first thing Keaton asked Iñárritu about the role?
Whether he was making fun of him
The film is full of references to Tim Burton's Batman films regardless.
Q 23What photo did Iñárritu attach to the script he gave the cast?
Man on Wire, of Philippe Petit crossing the Twin Towers
Lindsay Duncan
She promises to 'kill' the play without seeing it.
Q 14What does Riggan confess to his ex-wife Sylvia on opening night?
He once tried to drown himself after she caught him having an affair
He also tells her about the Birdman voice, which she ignores.
Q 15What injury does Riggan actually suffer from the real gun on stage?
He blows off his nose
He wakes in hospital with a surgically reconstructed nose.
Q 16How does Tabitha respond to the play after the shooting?
A rave, mistaking the suicide attempt for a new technique
Sam's Twitter account for him gains followers by the second.
Q 17What does Sam do at the very end when she finds the hospital room empty?
Looks up at the sky and smiles
She hears a bird's cry first.
Q 18How is nearly all of the film presented?
As one continuous take
Iñárritu's reasoning: 'we live our lives with no editing'.
Q 19Who shot the film?
Emmanuel Lubezki
He initially thought it had every element of a movie he didn't want to make: comedy, studio work and long takes.
Q 20How did the four screenwriters mostly collaborate?
Over Skype calls and emails from three cities
Iñárritu was in LA, Giacobone and Bo in Buenos Aires, Dinelaris in New York.
His message: 'We are doing that'.
Q 24Which actor was originally set to play Mike Shiner?
Josh Brolin
The financiers switched him for Norton because of scheduling conflicts.
Q 25What was the film's budget?
$16.5 million
Fox Searchlight and New Regency, fresh from 12 Years a Slave, financed it together.
Q 26Which Broadway house was used for the stage scenes?
St. James Theatre
Backstage areas were built at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.
Q 27Where did Iñárritu and Lubezki build a proxy stage to test whether the film was possible?
Sony Studios in Los Angeles
Canvas and C-stands stood in for walls, with tape marking out areas.
Q 28Which lens was used for most of the film?
An 18mm Leica
A 21mm was tried first but didn't give Iñárritu the intimacy he wanted.
Q 29How many times was the live Times Square sequence shot?
Twice
They didn't want to attract the attention of tourists.
Q 30Which mishap by the actress playing Sam ruined a six-minute take?
Walking around a corner too quickly
She told the story on Jimmy Fallon.