oghan laughs again, switching to his other passion, a physical discipline he is definitely religious about. “I love boxing because I’m constantly learning and stepping outside of my comfort zone, and that applies to be- ing an actor, as well. I always want a routine where I am challenged–I was not used to getting stuff handed to me on a plate grow- ing up, so, yeah, I like the challenge and take the opportunities.” Given his love of being pushed, which roles from his career does he think have stretched him most so far? “Every role chal- lenges you in different ways and different aspects, but I think the most two recent ones, maybe…” he says, referring to both Banshees and the upcoming Saltburn from Promising Young Woman director Emerald Fennell–a film that has a plot still very much under wraps. “I mean, I would be excited to take The Joker on again and bring some- thing new to him.” And for those few out there that have missed it, Keoghan made a shadowy cameo as an ‘unseen Arkham pris- oner’ in Matt Reeves’s pitch-black re-boot of Batman, and the actor has since clocked up a staggering five million-plus views on YouTube in a deleted scene shared by the director, in which said prisoner is revealed as The Joker. “It’s always my angle, to bring something fresh with every part, and by that freshness, I just mean entirely being me, be- cause my version of The Joker will be kind of different, you know, and you are delving into a whole backstory there that’s massive. “ It certainly is, and it’s also a gargantuan franchise that is pure Hollywood, so in clos- ing, I suggest we turn our conversation to Tinseltown, and his feelings about that priv- ileged enclave nestled in the hills overlook- ing the vast city of angels. “There’s a lot of great energy there, but everything kind of revolves around the industry in Los Angeles. That’s not a bad thing, but, for me, I do need different lanes, if you get me–different focuses. I’ve got fam- ily now, and there’s no way I’d have them, in and around all of that. I don’t think it’s fair. It would be kind of a selfish thing if I expected my son and my partner to be out there. I do enjoy it when I’m there, and you meet lots of incredible people, but then I come back to my life here, and get back to doing normal things,” he says emphatically. “You can be looked after so much on film sets, and that, but it’s a danger in a way, man – you can forget how to butter your own slice of bread, if that makes sense,” he laughs. “Or maybe how to change a nappy, in my case! I like the balance of both, because it makes me appreciate both.” And as we wave goodbye, it strikes me that a genuine appreciation of all life has to offer seems core to Keoghan’s identity, and I can’t see him forgetting what’s truly im- portant in this all-too-short and oftentimes absurd experience we call existence anytime soon.
like to think we’re not. I do like to really get in there with a character and find the humanity, if that makes sense? Find the soul. A lot of the roles I have played have been kind of dark, but I’ve been playing those characters for a while now, and I want to kind of show the broader audience the op- posite. I was lucky that the role in Banshees happened to be a pretty kind of pure and innocent one, so I had a chance to show that range, as every actor wants to do.” I suggest that perhaps not all actors are so interested in stretching themselves as much as he so clearly is. “Maybe. I suppose some actors sit in a box, and they’re kind of happy with doing what they know they do best. But I do really want the challenge. I feel it’s kind of my job to step into a part and bring an audience with me on a journey.” It’s an ultimately heart-breaking journey we go on with wide-eyed local boy Dominic Kearney in Banshees , and it begs the question how he found the character’s humanity, and what he related to in both his cir- cumstances and psyche. “Well, I did live in the countryside Ireland for a bit, and, you know, you kind of have that thing where everyone knows everything, man. I guess that’s a global thing as well, but in Ireland es- pecially –everyone knows every single thing about you. I grew up in the city, and that’s a big bigger place, but even within my circle there, the idea of me wanting to become an actor and stepping out of lane was just not something that you do. And that was very suffocating, in a sense–so, I could relate to the same kind of thing in a smaller community.” Staying in lane was clearly never on the menu for Keoghan, who had a sense of wanting something far bigger from a very young age. “Even when I was in school, I was always saying I wanted to become an actor. And I remember my teachers going, ‘Well, you got to do this, you go to do that,’ and lining me up for drama at a place that I would’ve never have got the points to go to,” he explains, when I ask him how he overcame the self-de- feating mindset of his peers. “But I remember being, like, that’s not gonna work, anyway, man–because I always stood to the idea that you can’t teach somebody how to express. I mean, you can teach the technical side of act- ing, like how to hit your mark and say a line a certain way. But, I never be- lieved in going to college for drama or acting, or anything like that. I didn’t finish school, you know? I was asked to leave, but it didn’t kind of make me go, ah, that’s my life ruined now, because I always knew what I wanted to do. And, you know, I was blessed, not lucky, but blessed that a television show came along, and the unit base of that TV show happened to be in my old school yard,” he laughs. “I went back in there with my head up!” His career has snowballed fast since his initial break, and it’s interest- ing to note his use of the word blessed in this regard. I want to dig deeper and find out if he actually has faith of any kind, or is fatalistic. “It’s kind of just the sense that, you know, I’ll say a prayer to my mother, or believe that she’s by my side, and you know, you do get wee little signs, and that–it’s what gets me by, and keeps me in kind of a content state,” he pauses, for a moment. “Yeah. I’m a big believer in kind of pushing positive thoughts out there, and frequencies that attract good back. I suppose it’s basically the law of attraction. But I don’t believe in the law of attraction in a way that you ask for things, like, you know, money or cars, and that – I’m just asking for the opportunity.” Manifestation is one thing, but I suggest that being able to seize an opportunity in the moment it arises is also a distinct art, mentioning the philosopher Eckhart Tolle’s notion that one must give their fullest atten- tion to whatever the moment presents. “Yeah. I like that,” says Keoghan. “It’s kind of like when we stay in our comfort zone, and that comfort is repetitive. If you do stay inside this little box, you’re not present, but when you step outside that box, which I love doing, you’re in unfamiliar territory and you’re totally present, because you don’t know what’s com- ing at you. As a person, I love that. I mean, you kind of have to be present in boxing, as well, otherwise, you’re gonna get a punch in the face.” Ke-
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