Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan Is Making A Movie About His Life

11 January 2024, 15:09

Barry Keoghan became a household name with Saltburn and now he’s planning a film about his life.

Barry Keoghan may be doing the rounds for his film Saltburn and his adorable friendship with co-star Jacob Elordi, but the rising star has a lot more to say about how he put himself on the map.

In his new cover story for GQ, which Barry says he manifested, he revealed he has plans to make a film about his life story, starting from his difficult childhood, called The Cut Man, a nod to his love of boxing.

Barry, who's rumoured to be dating Sabrina Carpenter, said of his plans: “It’s called The Cut Man. It’s about my upbringing,” and confirmed it’s in its early days following a busy few years of TV shows and films including Top Boy, The Banshees of Inisherin, Batman and of course Saltburn, in which he plays creepy student Oliver who’s infatuated by new friend Felix (Elordi).

It’s early days but the movie biopic already has a script, written by Hunter Andrews.

• Read more: Barry Keoghan Addresses Whether He Wore A Prosthetic In THAT Saltburn Scene
• Read more: How Much Was Barry Keoghan Paid For Saltburn?

Barry grew up in Dublin with his brother going between foster homes. Their mum died of a drug addiction when he was 12 and they eventually moved in with their grandmother.

Sharing a fond memory of his mum Barry said she gave him the nickname ‘little Timmy’ although he was never sure why. He reminisced: “She’d be like, ‘Where’s my little Timmy?’ I’d love to make her laugh, and just dance for her.”

Barry said he was always fascinated by Old Hollywood and spent his youth watching movies starring the likes of Marlin Brando and James Dean.

He told GQ: “It’s crazy when I think of it. I was saying to my friend last night—I was just looking out at the [Hollywood] sign and, y’know, I wanted this as a kid. I dunno why I wanted it, but I wanted it.

Watch the trailer for Saltburn

“It brings back memories, in a weird way—it’s hard to have memories of a place you’ve not been in, but I watched all those old movies, and was fascinated by Old Hollywood. This was stuff I dreamt of, as a kid.”

The 31-year-old spilled on meeting one of his idols, 'very cool' Leonardo DiCaprio, after relating to one of Leo’s early films The Basketball Diaries.

“Basketball Diaries, for me, there was a personal connection—with my mother being on heroin. I really could relate to it, a lot. There’s a scene where he comes to the door and he’s begging his mom, can he come in? I was witness to that—that happened at my granny’s house, ’cause my granny was my mother’s mother. And it was similar. It hit home for me.”

When he moved out of foster care and in with his grandmother, his aunt and his cousin, his cousin moved into her mother’s room so that Barry and his brother had a room of their own. The actor now has plans to get the family a house of their own.

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