Barry Keoghan is set to play Billy the Kid in a new film about the life of the notorious outlaw.
The Banshees of Inisherin star will play the Kid in a new Western that is being described as a “passion project” for the actor. The as-of-yet untitled movie will have a new take on the gunfighter, leaning into the Kid’s Irish ancestry and complicated childhood.
Born as Henry McCarty, the Kid was left an orphan at 15 and soon gave into a life of crime. By the time he was gunned down at 21, he was already a notorious criminal.
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The Oscar nominee, who lost his own mother when he was just 12 years old and grew up in the foster system, told the Hollywood news website Deadline he "felt related" to Billy in a way. He said: "I remember reading about him as a kid, but as we were digging into the project, there were so many things we discovered about his life.
"I wanted to step outside of the legend that was built up by the papers and tackle the pressure he must have felt from those early days. He was running his whole life.
“I felt related to Billy in the sense of him being a mummy’s boy, but obviously, I took a different path, turning my circumstances into something positive rather than rebelling against them.
"Nevertheless, there’s a soul and a vulnerability to Billy that I think it’s important to bring, to understand him as a real person rather than the myth that he has become.”
Among the producers of the movie is the Irish film studio Element Pictures, with Deadline reporting that Keoghan pitched the project to them. Director Bart Layton hopes to commence filming in the early half of 2024.
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