Barry Keoghan has spoken about becoming a leading man with his The Batman co-star and friend Robert Pattinson, saying "you're perfect at that, Rob. I wanted to see, can I do it?"
Keoghan, last seen on the big screen in his Oscar-nominated turn in Martin McDonagh's pitch black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin, is currently celebrating his first leading role in writer/director Emerald Fennel's exhilarating thriller Saltburn.
The Dublin actor caught up with the Hollywood star in a wide-ranging interview for Wonderland magazine where they discussed Keoghan's career, his idiosyncratic approach to acting and social anxiety.
When asked by Pattinson about whether he had a plan for his acting career, Keoghan responded: "The plan is to become a leading man.
"I got the chance there recently to lead a movie [Saltburn] and challenge myself. You're perfect at that, Rob. I admire you for that. You can do that. I wanted to see, can I do it?
"Because I've come into movies supporting and doing scenes and I love it. It’s whatever the role requires. But I wanted to see, could I lead a movie? Could I keep the audience engaged? So, that was my plan."
"Now it’s like, can I continue to do that? Can I continue to lead? But it’s to work with good filmmakers, man, and good projects," Keoghan added.
"I have a list of directors that tend to knock around on these interviews and by saying their names I try to use the law of attraction [to make that happen].
"But I really have not ticked off a lot of directors on that. You know, like Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Chloé Zhao. So, I’ve got to make a feckin’ new list, man. I really do."
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When asked about his training in acting, Keoghan responded: "No acting school. No RADA. No nothing. I didn't get to do any of that. I'm not against it or anything.
"Again, they’re great for what they’re great for, but I don’t want to be trained or tamed – tamed is a very strong word – but I want to have that authentic kind of thing and keep that.
"I feel you lose that with every gig you do, you become a little trained within yourself and you become a bit structured. I want to keep that loose and fluid thing going on that you don’t train – that unorthodox kind of thing to it."
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The 31-year-old Dubliner also opened up about being self conscious at events, sharing: "I’m really socially awkward, man. I can’t look at people.
"I start scratching my hair or feeling really uncomfy and that. But when I’m acting, you don’t really feel that, you kind of have the licence to be silly."
After saying he has become "more socially awkward" since becoming more famous, Pattinson agreed, joking: "Oh, yeah. I can barely speak English anymore."
"Do you know what it is as well? It's getting compliments," Keoghan continued. "I find getting compliments hard, man. It's like, 'Well done in that movie!’ And then it’s just, they stare at you, and you’re like, 'Okay, what do I say now?’ You know what I mean?
"It’s stuff like that, and it’s beautiful and whatever but these social settings are not natural. You don’t know what to do. I find that I’ve become a lot more socially awkward, and I’m kind of starting to own it now, getting in and out of events, you know what I mean?"
Keoghan also said that he would hope to be remembered for his work above anything else.
"Just remembered not for me, but for my characters almost," he said. "I'd hate to be remembered as 'Barry as the actor’. I want someone to put my character name before me, if that makes sense."
He concluded by saying: "The plan is to stay mystique. Not consciously staying mystique, but just touching on what we said, just showing myself; different versions of me through different characters."
