Barry Keoghan made a surprise appearance at the end of Matt Reeves’ The Batman as a new incarnation of the Joker, but it turns out the Irish actor originally auditioned for a different role in the big-budgeted superhero film.
The Dubliner appears briefly near the end of the blockbuster as an early version of the Clown Prince of Darkness and was identified simply as 'Unseen Arkham Prisoner' in the film's credits, Buzz.ie reports. However, the 29-year-old has recently revealed that he originally tried out for the role of the film's main villain, The Riddler, and sent in an audition tape in the hopes of landing the part.
In a new profile, Keoghan told GQ UK he wanted to play The Riddler and sent Reeves an unsolicited audition tape for the role. The Riddler ended up being played by Paul Dano in The Batman, but Keoghan has now shared his original audition tape with British GQ.
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You can watch the audition footage below, with the short screen test featuring Keoghan slowly walking down a hallway and channelling Malcolm McDowell's character Alex from Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Although the tape wasn't successful in landing Keoghan the role of the Riddler, it did eventually cause him to getting a part in the film. The Dubliner told GQ that the tape landed him a meeting with the film's producer Dylan Clark, who informed Keoghan that he didn’t get the role of the Riddler.
However, a few months later he got a call from his agent and found out that The Batman producers wanted him as the Joker instead. “The Batman’ wants you to play the Joker – but you cannot tell anyone,” Keoghan’s agent told him.
Keoghan described his take on the Joker as “a bit charming and a bit hurt, a broken-down boy” underneath the massive prosthetics. The Dubliner said he had one request for the iconic villain's look, insisting his blue eyes stayed the same. "I wanted some sort of human in there behind the makeup,” Keoghan said. “I want people to relate to him… [to know] this is a façade he puts on.”
Keoghan does not yet know if he will return as the Joker for The Batman 2, but said he is hoping to be part of the upcoming sequel. "As soon as that call comes,” he told GQ, “I’m there man, I’m there.”
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