Barry Keoghan will play Billy the Kid in an upcoming biopic.
Barry Keoghan relates to Billy the Kid
The 'Banshees of Inisherin' actor - who is nominated for an Oscar for his role in the drama - is set to take on the infamous outlaw with Bart Layton at the helm for the upcoming movie, having worked with him previously on 2018 heist film 'American Animals'.
Speaking to Deadline, he said: "We’ve seen many versions of Billy the Kid on screen before.
“My interest was in trying to tell a version that breaks from the facade of that cool, calm, and collected gunslinger Billy the Kid that we’re all used to seeing. I wanted to humanise him in a way.”
Keoghan first pitched the idea to Layton during 'American Animals', and it is something of a passion project.
Like Billy the Kid himself, Keoghan was born in Ireland and lost his mother age a young age - the actor was 12, while the outlaw lost his mum aged 15.
Explaining his goals, the star added: “I wanted to step outside of the legend that was built up by the papers and tackle the pressure he must have felt from those early days. He was running his whole life.
"I felt related to Billy in the sense of him being a mummy’s boy, but obviously, I took a different path, turning my circumstances into something positive rather than rebelling against them.
"Nevertheless, there’s a soul and a vulnerability to Billy that I think it’s important to bring, to understand him as a real person rather than the myth that he has become.”
Director Layton and producer Ed Guiney are hoping to start work on the movie early in 2024, and it's an exciting prospect for everyone involved.
Keoghan said: "To have the two of them stand by me on this, knowing it won’t be a small film, knowing we’re going to have to work hard to get it set up, that means a great deal."