THE BATMAN Actor Barry Keoghan Talks About Playing That Surprise Character in the Film

If you haven’t watched The Batman yet, and you don’t know who Barry Keoghan is playing in the film, this article contains spoilers.

I would assume everyone knows who Barry Keoghan is playing in the film by now because it’s so obvious, but if I were to put that in the title of this post, the internet would go apeshit for some reason and some people would want my head on a pike.

Anyway, Keoghan is playing The Joker in Matt Reeves’ Batman universe. He was introduced at the end of the film in Arkham Asylum and he had a little conversation with The Riddler that ended with the both of them laughing hysterically.

Keoghan has finally opened up about playing The Joker in an interview with Esquire Middle East and this is what he had to say, "Getting to be part of the Batman universe is [a huge deal for me]. I'm a fanboy of these movies, and especially the Batman universe. So be to be in that world, I'm still pinching myself. {Matt Reeves} is a filmmaker I hugely admire as well. And to get to walk alongside him and see how he works, and seeing much like Chloe Zhao, how comfortable he makes you on set, and he gives you the time you need and what you want. I'm in such a blessed position."

He went on to say that he had blast acting with Dano. "Paul is–I'm a huge, huge fan of Paul. He's such a good dude as well. I've watched all of his movies, like Prisoners and stuff like that. People say that we're kind of alike as well, and I'm like, are we?"

We don’t know what the future holds for Keoghan’s Joker in the franchise, but Reeves is developing an Arkham Asylum series that could easily be a place for the character to return. I’d definitely like to see the character explored more, especially with how Reeves envisioned the character.

Reeves previously revealed that Keoghan’s Joker was inspired by Conrad Veidt’s performance in the 1928 silent film The Man Who Laughs, based on a novel by Victor Hugo. He said:

“It’s like ‘Phantom of the Opera. He has a congenital disease where he can’t stop smiling and it’s horrific. His face is half-covered through most of the film.’ While it’s barely perceptible in the movie, Marino’s makeup evoked Veidt’s, giving Keoghan an unceasing rictus grin.”

He wanted this version of The Joker to be based on a kid born with a condition in which he never stopped smiling:

“It’s not about some version where he falls into a vat of chemicals and his face is distorted, or what [Christopher] Nolan did, where there’s some mystery to how he got these scars carved into his face. What if this guy from birth had this disease and he was cursed? He had this smile that people stared at that was grotesque and terrifying. Even as a child, people looked at him with horror, and his response was to say, ‘Okay, so a joke was played on me,’ and this was his nihilistic take on the world.”

What are your thoughts on Keoghan’s Joker and would you like to see the character explored more in future Batman projects?