Barry Keoghan discusses “insane” audition with Steven Spielberg
While he’s now worked with several notable directors, Barry Keoghan encountered Steven Spielberg when he was still almost completely unknown, which he has now described as an “insane” audition.
It wasn’t until the release of 2017’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Dunkirk that Keoghan began to gain significant attention, but before either of those films had hit cinemas, he found himself one-on-one with Steven Spielberg when trying to secure himself a part in Ready Player One.
The adaptation of Ernest Cline’s literary love letter to pop culture was in the process of hiring its principal cast throughout late 2015 and early 2016, with Keoghan just one of many names to unsuccessfully try out for a part.
Reflecting on his screen test to GQ, Keoghan recalls the legendary director having “a little camcorder in his hand” to shoot the audition. “I was like, ‘This is insane,'” he said. “Steven Spielberg is filming me doing a scene, on a camcorder”.
He may not have ended up in Ready Player One, but Keoghan and Spielberg’s paths would cross again when he was announced as part of the ensemble for AppleTV+ World War II series Masters of the Air, the Saving Private Ryan director’s third small screen credit focusing on the conflict as an executive producer alongside Tom Hanks after Band of Brothers and The Pacific.
Spielberg may not have helmed any Masters of the Air episodes himself, but it did edge Keoghan another step closer to realising his long-held dream of working directly with the three-time Academy Award winner.
Thankfully, there’s still plenty of time for it to happen as Keoghan’s star ascends, and with Spielberg continuing to be as prolific as ever behind the camera, the third time may yet prove to be the charm that culminates in a substantial screen presence under the icon’s direction.
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