Barry Keoghan‘s latest profile in Esquire magazine reveals he spent $10 to make his viral self-tape audition for Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” which introduced Robert Pattinson as the latest iteration of the Caped Crusader. Keoghan sent in a tape to play the Riddler, although Paul Dano ended up getting the role. However, Keoghan impressed Reeves enough to land a surprise role that wasn’t on his radar: Joker.
“I just made it up,” Keoghan told the magazine about his self-tape audition, in which he creepily exits an elevator in full Riddler costume and walks down a bland hallway in “Clockwork Orange” style. “I wanted to make it Kubrick-y: symmetrical, the X on the back, the square doorframe, everything square. I just wanted swag to come across. Swag and endearing. It was just me giving my idea. And then I’s like, I’ma send this in!”
Keoghan did not play Riddler in “The Batman,” but he surprised moviegoers at the very end of Reeves’ comic book tentpole by appearing and showing off a laugh that heavily suggested he was a new iteration of the Joker. Then came the official release of an extended deleted scene from the film that confirmed his Joker casting.
“I wanted to be Riddler,” Keoghan told GQ UK last year while debuting his self-tape audition online for the first time. He added that a “Batman” producer informed him not long after he sent the tape in that the role of Riddler had already been filled (first by Jonah Hill, then by Paul Dano). Four months later, the actor got a call with a different request to play Joker.
“’The Batman’ wants you to play the Joker — but you cannot tell anyone,” Keoghan was told by his agent.
Keoghan described his Joker as “a bit charming and a bit hurt” and “a broken-down boy.” He also refused to let the makeup team change his blue eyes for the role.
“I wanted some sort of human in there behind the makeup,” the actor said. “I want people to relate to him…[to know] this is a façade he puts on.”
Reeves told Variety after “The Batman” opened in theaters that including Keoghan’s Joker in the film was not an inherent tease for the character’s return in a sequel. As the director stressed, “It’s not an Easter egg scene. It’s not one of those end credits Marvel or DC scenes where it’s going, like, ‘Hey, here’s the next movie!’ In fact, I have no idea when or if we would return to that character in the movies.”
A sequel, “The Batman Part II,” is already scheduled for release on Oct. 3, 2025 from Warner Bros. Keoghan’s return has not yet been publicly announced.
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