Barry Keoghan discusses his performance as the Joker
Robert Pattinson gave us a new era of the Caped Crusader in last year’s The Batman. After years of DC’s movies being on shaky ground for fans, Pattinson’s gritty look at what a modern incarnation of Batman would have been satisfied both fans and critics alike. Though the main villain across the runtime was Paul Dano’s brilliant Riddler performance, the sound of deranged laughter from Barry Keoghan was lingering in the shadows just before the movie ended.
In a widely leaked deleted scene, Keoghan was on hand to play The Joker, who is shown faded behind glass as Batman discusses crime documents with him. Despite fans thinking his performance was tacked on, Keoghan mentioned making the role authentic to him.
When talking to Collider, Keoghan talked about putting his unique twist on the Clown Prince of Crime, saying, “It’s very intimidating playing the Joker. Heath Ledger was the best for me. So you have a lot of people to draw from and that. But again, you bring your version to it. That’s what I do with any character I play, is no one has seen my version of it. And again, going back to it, I don’t want to be like so-and-so, and follow that method and that method. I want to do me”.
Keoghan’s mention of Ledger’s portrayal isn’t unfounded either. After Jack Nicholson’s brilliant performance as the same character in the 1989 Michael Keaton incarnation of Batman, Ledger’s turn as the Joker chilled fans to the core, making the idea of a clown wanting to spread chaos around Gotham totally believable.
Keoghan also mentioned director Matt Reeves being completely supportive of where he wanted to go with the character, saying he was “another great director at communicating what he wants in the most delicate way and making you understand. That’s the most important thing for me, is being able to understand what my director wants. But he’s just amazing. And he was so on board with me, and same with producer Dylan Clark and getting to do the scene with Rob Pattinson and Paul Dano was just, again, masterclasses”.
While fans only caught a brief glimpse at what The Joker is capable of in this version of Gotham, it is far different from what fans had seen Joaquin Phoenix bring to the table in his role in 2019’s Joker. Whereas Phoenix’s portrayal was about seeing The Joker come out of his shell as one of the most dangerous criminals alive, Keoghan’s Joker already has a history with Batman and could potentially make for the next big bad when Reeves returns for a sequel.
Despite not having that much information on Reeves’ next vision, Keoghan has said that he would love to be a part of it. In a recent podcast appearance, Keoghan mentioned having ideas that he still wants to bring to the table, saying (via Movieweb), “Obviously, I’d love another crack. I’ve got a ton of back work done on him. If an opportunity does arise, but, you know, they make the call, and I’ve got to respect that. I’ve got a few other things I’d love to bring. Actually, I have this little half-Moleskin book I’ve written a lot in already, and so yeah, I want to show people what that is”.
While Jared Leto’s turn as The Joker might still be burned in the minds of Batman fans, Keoghan is ready to give character energy that hasn’t been seen before on the big screen. No matter what they end up going with in the future, there’s still a lot of potential past that distorted screen.
