Barry Keoghan on What Happened After He Filmed the 'Saltburn' Grave Scene

There’s no question that Saltburn has become one of award season's most talked-about films. Directed by Emerald Fennell, Saltburn stars Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick, a troubled Oxford University student who befriends his popular classmate, Felix (Jacob Elordi). Soon after, their friendship sends Oliver into a fit of obsession with dire consequences.

If you're somehow unfamiliar with the discourse: Saltburn is largely known for a couple of graphic scenes, which are pretty damn hard to look away from—one of which takes place at a grave site. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t be the one to spoil it for you. Let’s just say… Keoghan gets down and dirty for a bit. In Esquire’s latest Explain This video, Keoghan reflected on the viral scene—which he improvised by the way. “I think no one spoke for a bit,” he said of the crew's reaction.

“You know, I had mud all over me as well,” he continued. “There's a lot of crazy things I’d done for that movie.” After pausing for a moment, the actor shared his final thoughts on the matter. “Whatever I say right now after what you just watched… you’re not even going to take in because of what you’ve just seen.” Fair enough, man.

Now that he’s done fooling around in graveyards, Keoghan is ready for his next project. “I’d like to do a rom-com,” he told Esquire. “Am I funny? is the question; Am I romantic? is the question as well.” I have a feeling Keoghan won’t have much trouble winning his audience's affection. Even when playing a necrophiliac, fans can’t seem to resist his charm. Still, Keoghan has a healthy sense of humor about viewers' puzzling reactions to Saltburn. “I want to step away from the freaky roles to see, ‘Does anyone still adore me?’” he joked. “Probably not.”

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