Barry Keoghan posed for his most daring shoot to date as he embraced a vampire-theme for his cover spread with W Magazine.
The Irish actor, 31, was instructed by his Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, who took inspiration from the famous line in their film, ‘Lucky for you, I’m a vampire.’
For one striking snap, Barry went shirtless and bathed in a pool of blood.
The father-of-one donned a pair of latex gloves complete with fake nails, adding to the look with a chunky pearl necklace and slick of red lipstick.
He took things a step further in the next photograph, pretending to devour a heart as he sat over a plate covered in fake blood.
Barry Keoghan posed for his most daring shoot to date as he embraced a vampire-theme for his cover spread with W Magazine
He took things a step further in the next photograph, pretending to devour a heart as he sat over a plate covered in fake blood
The vampire-themed spread was inspired by Barry pretending to be a vampire in Saltburn, which also featured a memorable nude scene with the star
The kooky spread also saw Barry read the novel Twilight and pose with a Buffy The Vampire Slayer mug before modelling a suit of armour – that would allow a vampire to go outside in the daylight.
In Saltburn, Barry’s character Oliver insists he’s ok with performing sex acts when a girl is on her period because he’s a ‘vampire.’
Speaking about the inspiration for the shoot, Emerald explained: ‘Because Barry’s so theatrical and such an amazing physical performer, I wanted to make that literal and have him as a vampire living his everyday life in London.
‘Which means reading Twilight, watching old Hammer horror films, and going to the supermarket in armor and a balaclava so that he doesn’t get burned to a crisp.’
Another shocking scene in the movie sees Barry strip naked and dance around to Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Murder on the Dance Floor.
Speaking about the reaction to the nudity, he shared: ‘I didn’t know I could do something like that, and to see it play back on-screen gave me a massive amount of confidence.
‘So maybe there’s something down that route I can take.’
Emerald was keen not to push him into doing anything he felt uncomfortable with, explaining: ‘The thing for me is, if you want to make stuff that’s close to the bone, that’s outrageous and fun and camp and silly, you need to create a space where people feel like they’re safe, that they’re not being shoved off a cliff and that we’re all doing it together.
‘If Barry had changed his mind and said, “I don’t want the dance scene at the end to be in the movie,” I would have got rid of it, because consent is ongoing and everyone has a say.
‘But that’s why Barry’s remarkable. He wants to be at the sharp end, always. He only finds it interesting there, and that’s how I feel too.’
The kooky spread also saw Barry read the novel Twilight and pose with a Buffy The Vampire Slayer mug
Barry fully embraced the vampire theme of the photoshoot as he posed in a red light
Barry modelled a suit of armour that would allow a vampire to go outside in the daylight
In one snap a human arm could be seen peeking out behind a door while Barry drank from his Buffy mug
The Irish actor, 31, was instructed by his Saltburn director Emerald Fennell (pictured) who took inspiration from the famous line in their film, ‘Lucky for you, I’m a vampire’
Discussing her vision for how audiences would watch Saltburn, Emerald continued: ‘We did say before Saltburn came out on Amazon Prime that everyone should watch it with their families…
‘What’s so fun and disconcerting about the movie, whether you’re watching in the theater or at home, is that your mum is squirming with embarrassment – or maybe she thinks it’s really hot.’
Barry previously revealed that his role in the psychological thriller, which also stars Australian actor Jacob Elordi, helped people stop looking at him as just a ‘freak child-man.’
Speaking to GQ about audiences seeing him in a different light, he said: ‘It’s nice, man. It’s nice not just being looked at as the weird-looking guy, the unique f*****g freaky little freak man-child, freak child-man, whatever you want to call it.’
He continued: ‘My prettiness didn’t get me this far,’ but admitted he realises being someone audiences want to look at ‘opens up other lanes for me – it’s part of the leading man thing’.
He added: ‘Little freak child-man era, as we call it. And now I’m just Man. Freak-Man. Man-Freak.’
Despite being 31, Barry plays an Oxford University student who becomes obsessed with his wealthy classmate, Felix, and heads to Saltburn to stay with Felix’s family for the summer.
Barry’s acting career began in 2011 when he applied for a role in Between the Canals – an Irish film following the life of three hardened criminals.
He then went on to study acting at The Factory in Dublin before appearing in the Irish soap Fair City at the age of 18.
His major breakthrough came when he landed a role in the second world war film Dunkirk in 2017 where he portrayed the character George Mills.
Since then he has appeared in a string of famous films including The Batman, Eternals, American Animals, the TV series Chernobyl, and the Golden Globe winning The Banshees of Inisherin, which has seen him tipped for an Oscar nomination.
He continued: ‘My prettiness didn’t get me this far,’ but admitted he realises being someone audiences want to look at ‘opens up other lanes for me – it’s part of the leading man thing’.
Barry added: ‘Little freak child-man era, as we call it. And now I’m just Man. Freak-Man. Man-Freak.’
Despite being 31, Barry plays an Oxford University student who becomes obsessed with his wealthy classmate, Felix, and heads to Saltburn to stay with Felix’s family for the summer.
Barry stripped off to display his chiselled chest while posing in an undone coat
Read the full interview in W magazine
Despite being 31, Barry plays an Oxford University student who becomes obsessed with his wealthy classmate, Felix
Barry’s acting career began in 2011 when he applied for a role in Between the Canals – an Irish film following the life of three hardened criminals.
He then went on to study acting at The Factory in Dublin before appearing in the Irish soap Fair City at the age of 18.
His major breakthrough came when he landed a role in the second world war film Dunkirk in 2017 where he portrayed the character George Mills.
Since then he has appeared in a string of famous films including The Batman, Eternals, American Animals, the TV series Chernobyl, and the Golden Globe winning The Banshees of Inisherin, which has seen him tipped for an Oscar nomination.
