Actor Barry Keoghan revealed that he had excellent reviews from fans for his Joker character in The Batman, despite his short intervention. However, he originally auditioned to get the role of The Riddler. Without Matt Reeves’ team asking, Barry sent in his audition tape as The Riddler upon hearing that The Batman was going to happen. He didn’t get the role which went to Paul Dano instead. However, the audition earned him a cameo as The Joker.
Image via Marvel Studios.
Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman marked Robert Pattinson’s debut as The Dark Knight. The movie’s plot was shocking and involved frightening characters, including Barry Keoghan’s creepy version of The Joker.
Barry Keoghan Reveals Audition Video for The Batman
The Batman actor showed fans the audition tape he did for Riddler. Despite the excellent performance as Joker, actor Barry Keoghan initially wanted Ed Nygma’s role. He confessed to British GQ, “I wanted to be Riddler.”
When Barry met producer Dylan Clark, he informed Keoghan that Jonah Hill would play Riddler. Afterward, Paul Dano took over the role. Four months later, however, Keoghan’s agent informed him, “The Batman wants you to play the joker – but you cannot tell anyone.” Thanks to that video Barry sent, he ended up playing The Joker.
The actor retweeted the video from British GQ’s official Twitter account, saying, “Now watch @BarryKeoghan’s audition for Matt Reeves ‘The Batman’. This one got him the role of Joker”.
— Barry Keoghan (@BarryKeoghan) October 3, 2022
The actor states that the personality imbued in the Joker was “a bit charming and a bit hurt,” as well as sometimes “broken – down boy,” which made the actor “want[ed] some sort of human in there behind the makeup. I want people to relate to him… [to know] this is a facade he puts on.”
This performance gave the actor well-deserved critical acclaim that made his fans very happy. The deleted scene with Barry Keoghan’s Batman character has over ten million views so far.
It is still unclear what plans are in store for The Batman sequel, and we don’t even know if Barry’s Joker will reappear. However, the actor wants to return to play his role as the villain.
The Joker’s Return
Barry Keoghan confessed to GQ that he wants to return as The Joker. In the interview, he talks about the great experience he had playing the Joker in The Batman. Keoghan said if there is a sequel, he would want to be involved in the future. The star talked about his desire to reprise the role “As son as that call comes. I’m there man, I’m there”. Although he initially wanted to play the role of Riddler, everything changed afterward.
Keoghan’s version of The Joker had a brief appearance in The Batman. In the scene, he comforts Paul Dano’s Riddler in Arkham saying, “One day you’re on top, the next you’re a clown. Well, let me tell you there are worse things to be”.
Image via Screengrab
Seven actors have had the honor of playing The Joker. Keoghan located a list ranking all the Jokers and sent it to Reeves, joking, “There were seven and I was number four. Lads, with four minutes of screen time, not bad eh?”.
Even though that face Keoghan showed, full of scars, differs from the ones we’re used to seeing, his performance stood out. The actor confesses that he let the blue eyes show behind the makeup, to try to make Joker’s look more human. Hopefully, his performance will earn him a second chance. Lots of Batman fans want to see Keoghan show what he can bring to this emblematic character. Let’s wait for what else this sequel has in store for us.