Barry Keoghan has made enough of a name for himself so that when he shows up in a movie, you just know some weird and/or gross stuff is going down. A few examples include that scene in Saltburn, or that scene in The Green Knight. Or that other scene in Saltburn. Or any of Saltburn, honestly!
But one of Keoghan’s earlier roles was alongside Nicole Kidman and his buddy Colin Farrell in the unsettling 2017 thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Keoghan stars as Martin, a troubled young boy who befriends a family and causes a series of eerie coincidences and mysterious illnesses around him. As the film progresses, Keoghan’s character slowly descends into madness, which inspires one of the creepier scenes involving Kidman and Keoghan.
While Keoghan was attempting to eat spicy wings on Hot Ones, he explained how the scene came to be. “You’re sitting there in front of Nicole Kidman as well, you know in your boxers; it’s kind of intimidating and you’re eating cold pasta,” he began. In the film, Keoghan’s character has an ominous type of power over Kidman and her family. In order to play such a character, he had to freak her out a bit. “I was like what will I do to freak her out…so I put the spaghetti in my mouth, take it back out and I remember doing that and she looked at me like what the f*ck. And it worked.” Sometimes, actors aren’t acting! They are genuinely terrified, just like Kidman!
Keoghan, who is known for his bizarre roles, also added that he doesn’t really end up on the cutting room floor too often. “I’m going to sound cocky, but they don’t really cut my scenes. They keep them in and wish they had more.” You hear that, Hollywood? We need more grave-humping Barry.
Check out the full interview above.