Barry Keoghan Shares a Memorable Moment with Joaquin Phoenix at the 2024 Golden Globes
Barry Keoghan and Joaquin Phoenix bond over their shared experience playing the iconic Batman villain, the Joker, at the 2024 Golden Globes
Barry Keoghan, Joaquin Phoenix. Gregg DeGuire/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images ; Todd Williamson/CBS
Barry Keoghan and Joaquin Phoenix, who both portrayed the same Batman villain, were spotted together at the 2024 Golden Globes. Keoghan, 31, captioned Instagram photos of the encounter with the simple phrase, "Just havin' a laugh." The Saltburn star appeared alongside Phoenix, 49, as they shared smiles and conversation.
Keoghan and Phoenix have both portrayed the character of the Joker in various adaptations of the Batman comics.
In 2019, Phoenix played the lead role in Joker, and his performance earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He is set to return as the Joker in the upcoming sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, alongside Lady Gaga, who will play the role of the DC Comics villain Harley Quinn.
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Phoenix spoke about his character portrayal in a 2019 Vanity Fair interview, saying, "There are so many different ways of looking at it. You can either say that he is someone who, like everyone else, needed to be heard and understood and to have a voice. Or you can say that he is someone who disproportionately needs a large quantity of people to be fixated on him. His satisfaction comes as he stands in amongst the madness."
As for Keoghan, he was cast as the Joker in the 2022 Robert Pattinson-led film The Batman. Although his scene did not officially make it into the movie, it was released on YouTube and quickly went viral with fans praising Keoghan's performance.
Keoghan had auditioned with a self-tape for The Riddler, but the role was ultimately given to Paul Dano. He shared with GQ that he was offered the role of the Joker in "The Batman," but was sworn to secrecy by his team.
Keoghan's casting in the role of the "Unnamed Arkham Prisoner" was kept under wraps until March 2022, when he delivered a bone-chilling laugh in a scene many fans identified as that of the Joker. Even though his scene was originally cut from the film, Keoghan put a lot of thought into his character, describing his version of the villain as both charming and wounded.
“I wanted some sort of human in there behind the makeup,” he told GQ. “I want people to relate to him… [to know] this is a façade he puts on.”
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When asked about reprising the role in the highly anticipated The Batman II, Keoghan said he’d “love another crack” at the character.
"I've completed a significant amount of background work on him. If an opportunity does come up, you know, and they make the call, I have to respect that," Keoghan stated on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast in January 2023. "I have a few other things I would like to share. In fact, I have this small half-Moleskin book that I have already written a lot in, and I want to show people what it is all about."
