Barry Keoghan reveals Saltburn grave sex scene was improvised
Barry Keoghan revealed the disturbing grave sex scene in 'Saltburn' was improvised.
Barry Keoghan has revealed the grave sex scene in ‘Saltburn’ was improvised.
The 31-year-old actor stars in director Emerald Fennell's psychological thriller, which became a major streaming hit on Amazon Prime thanks to its numerous shocking moments, with perhaps the most disturbing scene being the grave sequence, which shows Barry’s Oxford scholarship student Oliver Quick penetrating the freshly dug grave of his murdered friend Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi).
Reflecting on the scene with Variety, Barry admitted that he took it upon himself to act out the moment to show the extent of his character's obsession.
He said: "On paper, he wasn’t written to do that. But I wanted to see what actually happened, where I would take it. I wanted to be confused and let my body lead the way. What am I doing? How can I get closer? It’s trying to find that new level of obsession. Trying to level up on the obsession.
“It’s quite sad because he didn’t even know what to do. He’s a lost boy who’s confused and doesn’t know what he’s chasing. And he never gets the fulfillment of what he’s chasing.”
The ‘Dune: Part II’ star complimented Emerald for allowing him to take creative liberties in the scene, and explore the “obsession” his character felt.
He explained: “I looked at that and went, ‘I’m going to show some maturity here and my commitment to my craft and challenge myself.’
“I’ll do anything once that moves the story forward and if there’s a right reason for it creatively. I’m not going to do something because it’s out there or for the ‘wow' factor. And when this came up, I was totally up for it. Because it felt right for Oliver. Now, were there discussions about it? Yeah, of course. Because I want to know motives and objectives. Emerald is so good about creating that safe environment.”
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director emphasised that she decided the scene had to be included in the movie because of Barry’s “intense” performance.
She said: “I spoke to Barry in the morning. And I just said, ‘I don’t know, Barry. I think that he would…unzip’ […] And Barry just said, ‘Yup.’
“There’s no way it couldn’t be in the film. There’s no way I could see a performance of that dedication — an expression of grief and love as intense as that — and not show it.”
