Barry Keoghan gets naked for Vanity Fair Hollywood cover issue, talks 'Saltburn' dance
Barry Keoghan just can't keep his clothes on.
The "Saltburn" actor bared all in a teaser for Vanity Fair's 30th annual Hollywood issue, published Wednesday.
In an Instagram video, the outlet shared a video magazine cover featuring 10 well-dressed cover stars, including Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Colman Domingo and Pedro Pascal, plus a naked Keoghan in a nod to his infamous scene in the dark comedy psychological thriller.
In his interview for the issue, the actor discussed Hollywood's recent Irish wave ("good-looking lads, innit?"), his co-star Jacob Elordi ("he's my baby boy") and how his naked dancing scene is probably the only thing he has in common with his twisted "Saltburn" character, Oliver.
"I didn't really draw parallels to him the way I have to certain other characters. I do dance around naked though, in my house. (Laughs.) Everyone does, man," he said. "It's one thing that I did relate to," in the sense that "I sing out loud, I dance silly and move my body silly."
He also notes he doesn't feel objectified by all the attention the scene has gotten.
"It can be detrimental to the mind and your mental state if you read into it too much or you look at too much stuff being said," he said. "But I wouldn't go there if I wasn't prepared for that, or if I wasn't open to receiving what people want to say. I think it shows an act of maturity in your craft, and if it justifies the story and moves it forward, why not?"
He continued: "I think it's true art. It really is. And it's true vulnerability as well."
Keoghan was a perfectionist about getting the movie's full-frontal finish right.
"I remember wanting to do it again and again," Keoghan told USA TODAY late last year. "At the start, I was like, 'Let's just get this out of the way.' But then I was just like, 'Let's do it again.' It became less about being naked and (eventually), I actually forgot that I was."
Since premiering at Telluride Film Festival in August, "Saltburn" has sparked strong reactions from critics and audiences for its jaw-dropping scenes involving gravesite sex, menstrual blood, full-frontal dancing and bodily fluids being guzzled from a bathtub.
"A woman came up to me after a screening a couple of weeks ago and said she felt like I'd reached my hand into her body and rummaged around her organs," writer/director Emerald Fennell, seated with Keoghan and Elordi, told USA TODAY last year. "That's the best compliment I've ever gotten."
Contributing: Patrick Ryan