Barry Keoghan Has Responded To The Obsession With His Nude ...
Barry Keoghan has opened up about the world's obsession with his body, particularly the now-infamous dance scene, set to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder on the Dancefloor,” at the end of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.
Now, he’s skipping clothes once more for a moving cover of Vanity Fair’s 2024 Hollywood Issue and opening up about how it feels to be that exposed to the public in an accompanying interview.
Speaking to Vanity Fair about his Saltburn character Oliver Quick, Barry Keoghan admitted that while he “didn’t really draw parallels to him the way [he has] to certain other characters,” he does indeed “dance around naked” in his own house, too.
“Everyone does, man,” the actor admitted amid laughs. “We all sing in the shower. We all act silly when we’re alone, and we feel this freedom. It’s one thing that I did relate to. Not dancing around a manor of that sort with that fecking drip hanging about — but I sing out loud, I dance silly, and move my body silly.”
While audiences seem to be focusing on the nudity aspect, for Keoghan, it was actually choreography that made him the most nervous. “I was afraid to move my hips and move my body in a certain way, but the set was made quite comfortable for me,” the actor admitted. “Once the camera goes up, I always feel a bit safe, and I have the license to kind of waltz in that environment.”
Keoghan said he was actually “pretty impressed” with the final result and that he “subconsciously” — and surprisingly — pulled from his boxing experience to inform his suave moves. “In the final moment of the dance, I twirl twice, and if you look at my footwork, it’s linked to boxing,” he revealed. “It’s all about footwork and moving the hips and stuff like that.”
©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection
Though he doesn’t mind sharing more details about how the scene came together, Keoghan is trying to focus on the positives and not think too much about the buzz behind his viral nude dance.
“It can be detrimental to the mind and your mental state if you read into it too much or you look at too much stuff being said,” he told VF. “But I wouldn’t go there if I wasn’t prepared for that, or if I wasn’t open to receiving what people want to say. I think it shows an act of maturity in your craft, and if it justifies the story and moves it forward, why not?”
“You look at European cinema and they tend to have a lot of scenes that involve nudity, and it’s not a massive thing, really. But I think it’s true art. It really is. And it’s true vulnerability as well,” the actor continued. “You’re really kind of putting yourself out there in the most vulnerable state. It’s beautiful to look at. I’m not saying it’s because of my body, but it’s freeing to see that body move around in the way it does. It’s like a moving painting, almost.”
Scene aside, in the interview, Keoghan also opened up about how many new eyes Saltburn has brought into his personal life, briefly discussing his relationship with his one-year-old son and dodging questions about his rumoured relationship.
“I’m not used to this much attention,” the actor said. “It’s overwhelming, if I’m quite honest. It’s almost a different kind of life that you’ve got to be living now. I just want to make movies and fecking play parts and work with filmmakers and not focus on this noise too much.”
This article originally appeared on TEEN VOGUE.
