Hear Me Out: Barry Keoghan should continue playing the weirdo
In recent times, it looks as though Barry Keoghan has come out fighting, wanting to take on roles beyond his usual repertoire. Efforts in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn and Andrea Arnold’s Bird have certainly increased the popularity of the Irish star, although his credentials as one of the leading actors of his generation were confirmed many years prior.
In Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, we first saw what Keoghan was capable of. Playing the hyper-creepy and truly unsettling Marin Lang, who curses Colin Farrell’s melancholic doctor with shocking brutality, showed the world that if there was ever a modern actor who was perfect to play weirdo, outcast, outsider characters, then it was Keoghan.
Inevitably queue his further turns in Matt Reeves’ The Batman as The Joker and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, a duo of equally intensely eccentric and uncongenial roles, first as the chief terroriser of Gotham City, then as a mentally troubled, abused and deeply heartbroken young man lost and looking for love on a remote Irish island.
However, with such performances under his belt, Keoghan set out looking for something different, and in Saltburn, he got it. Playing a manipulative Oxford student in Fennell’s hyper-sexualised film, Keoghan suddenly found himself as Hollywood’s new sex symbol, something that he refused to shy away from and, in fact, seemed to embrace with open arms.
Speaking to GQ about his new cultural position, Keoghan noted, “It’s nice, man. It’s nice not just being looked at as the weird-looking guy, the unique freaky little freak man-child, freak child-man, whatever you want to call it. It’s nice to see people kind of look at you in that way.” No longer is Keoghan in his self-confessed “little freak child-man era”; he’s “just man”.
Which is absolutely fair enough, and why wouldn’t Keoghan love the new kind of attention he’s getting: the fancy new clothes, the LA apartment, the popstar girlfriend, the magazine cover shoots, the chiselled jawline? However, the cinema world would surely mourn if Keoghan really would put his “freak” weirdo roles to one side and focus only on playing more traditionally masculine characters.
Sure, Saltburn’s Oliver certainly wasn’t exactly the kind of male role that embodies heteronormative masculinity, not by any stretch of the imagination, but there is the worry that Keoghan’s new public persona might have him reach for such characters. The truth is, though, that Keoghan has carved out himself a very special niche as one of the best actors at playing, let’s face it, fucking weirdos. He’s got the look for it, he’s got the talent for it, and to go in search of something more straight-laced would be a detriment to the contemporary cinema scene.
In no uncertain terms, Keoghan is one hell of a talent; he’s disquieting and yet captivating, vulnerable and yet menacing, and not many actors in his generation can boast the same ability to portray inner unease and external danger. Equally, it’s not like the “weirdo” archetype has to be all the same kind of persona; the truth is that Keoghan can continue to play a wide range of oddball characters whilst still retaining his newfound sex symbol status.
Keoghan understands what it means to be an outsider, given his upbringing, and he’s fully deserving of whatever success comes his way. But cinema needs its unconventional stars, like John C. Reilly, Steve Buscemi, Toby Jones, Timothy Spall and even Willem Dafoe, and just considering such company alone, it’s clear to see that Keoghan would do well to continue his excellent “freak” era.
