THE BATMAN's Barry Keoghan Reveals Grueling Six-Hour Joker Makeup Process

THE BATMAN's Barry Keoghan Reveals Grueling Six-Hour Joker Makeup Process

In a new video profile with GQ Magazine, actor Barry Keoghan recalls how the Joker makeup process required a staple to create the character's crooked smile.

By MarkJulian - Jan 10, 2024 06:01 PM EST
Filed Under: The Batman

As rumors swirl about who will be the next main villain in Matt Reeves The Batman, actor Barry Keoghan is looking back on his brief appearance in the first film as fans await a bigger role for Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime in the next installment.

To start off, the profile with GQ Magazine, Keoghan recounted how he landed the part.

"Originally there was no audition. I just made myself an audition tape because I saw an article saying that they wanted The Riddler in the new Batman.I was like, 'Oh, yeah, I'd love to play that.'"

"I just made a tape. I said, 'Feck, I'll just buy myself a cane and a hat, find myself a corridor and film myself walking down it. Add some little bit of swag to it and a bit of music, and let's see, will that get me an audition?' "

Keoghan also revealed that it took a quarter of the day to apply the grizzly prosthetics for his turn in The Batman.

"That took six hours to get into that, and it was like oh man, I couldn't sit still or six hours, I really couldn't," Keoghan reminisced.

He also humorously recalled a time when he was 80% through with the makeup process only for the studio to inform him that they were shutting the production down.

"I remember we were around five hours in, and [they] went 'We're shutting production down, there's COVID.' I was like 'Huh? Really? What? What happened?' There was this steel thing that went [into my cheek] and it was like slicing in. I was like, I'm really going to be left with a scar here."

The interview switches to The Batman at the 11:35 mark in the video below.

With rumors currently swirling around whether the Joker, the Court of Owls, Hush, Hugo Strange, Mr. Freeze or even Professor Pyg will be the next primary Batman antagonist in the next installment, fans should be learning more details in the coming weeks.

The Batman – Part II, and it is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 3, 2025. Filming was originally scheduled to start in November 2023 but has been delayed until March. With a four-month delay many fans are anticipating the sequel to push its release date.

And while fans are also looking forward to seeing more of the Joker in Part II, Reeves previously warned fans that Joker's brief appearance in the film wasn't necessarily an indication that he'll be the main villain in the sequel.

"I never was trying to say like, ‘Hey, guess what, here’s the Joker. Next movie!' The idea was more to say, ‘Hey, look, if you think that trouble is going to go away in Gotham, you can forget it. It’s already here. And it’s already delicious.'"

"It’s not about some version where he falls into a vat of chemicals and his face is distorted, or what [Christopher] Nolan did, where there’s some mystery to how he got these scars carved into his face,” Reeves explained.

What if this guy from birth had this disease and he was cursed? He had this smile that people stared at that was grotesque and terrifying. Even as a child, people looked at him with horror, and his response was to say, ‘Okay, so a joke was played on me,’ and this was his nihilistic take on the world."

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BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 1/10/2024, 7:03 PM
Hope we see him again in Batman 2!!!!
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 1/10/2024, 7:26 PM
@BlackStar25 - Hopefully we won't. Better to go with a different villain bad guy then to stick which that try-hard ledger wannabe.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 1/11/2024, 3:33 AM
@BlackStar25 - I'm ok with seeing him again, but not as the main antagonist. They can flesh him out a bit more, and them make him the big back for the 3rd, i'f i'm right in assuming that they're hoping for a trilogy.

I'd like to see him go up against a fighter, Deadshot, Deathstroke or even Bane, since we got that venom reference. It will be cool if it's Joker pulling all the strings from inside Arkham then get's out and setting him up for the finale which is movie 3.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 1/11/2024, 10:21 AM
@BlackStar25 - Hope we don't!!
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 1/10/2024, 7:04 PM
6 hours to look like shit?
braunermegda
braunermegda - 1/10/2024, 7:05 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - stop being a whining hater, it's not even possible to see it clear if it's good or not
JFerguson
JFerguson - 1/10/2024, 7:07 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - agreed. I think all that work just for this result was largely unnecessary.
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 1/10/2024, 7:25 PM
@braunermegda - I think they realised how shit it looked when he arrived on set and because they didn't have the time to fix it they said "f**k it, blur it as much as you can". I'm convinced Reeve's took a similar approach when it came to that blurry ass third act.
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 1/10/2024, 7:59 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - hahaha literally came here to same this exact samething.. and I LOVED The Batman as a movie.. but his joker was awful
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 1/10/2024, 8:37 PM
@braunermegda - please enlighten me as to when you became my momma since you think you can tell me how to think and what do? You’re so tolerant of other peoples opinions. 🤷‍♂️🤣😘
braunermegda
braunermegda - 1/10/2024, 8:38 PM
@AnthonyVonGeek - as I said, whining. Quit being a baby.
braunermegda
braunermegda - 1/10/2024, 8:39 PM
@HashTagSwagg - I buy that
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 1/10/2024, 8:39 PM
@MotherGooseUPus - great movie but I’m with you on the Joker. I was so disappointed with the looks. He looked like something out of the Wrong Turn movies. Great actor bad make up.
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 1/11/2024, 6:20 AM
@AnthonyVonGeek - as well as 6 hrs and they cut his scene from the theatrical version. I would have been pissed...until they give me my check
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 1/11/2024, 8:43 AM
@braunermegda - if you don’t like my comments, then block me and stop being a little whiny bitch 🤷‍♂️
braunermegda
braunermegda - 1/11/2024, 9:56 AM
@AnthonyVonGeek - you're the one whining and bitching, mate. Just grow up, it'll solve half of your problems.
Deadinside
Deadinside - 1/11/2024, 11:49 AM
@braunermegda -
@AnthonyVonGeek -
"Just grow up, it'll solve half of your problems."

And, give you a whole boatload of new ones...!☮😜
braunermegda
braunermegda - 1/11/2024, 11:52 AM
@Deadinside - that's the other half it won't be solved 🤣🤣🤣
Taonrey
Taonrey - 1/10/2024, 7:05 PM
6hrs for a deleted scene is crazy, hopefully the change the design if he's ever actually in a sequel
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 1/11/2024, 6:21 AM
@Taonrey - literally what i first thought too. all that just to cut his short scene
ImNotaBot
ImNotaBot - 1/10/2024, 7:10 PM
with all the buzz hes getting after Saltburn and Banshees i bet WB will beg Matt Reeves to use his joker in The Batman 3. dude has the potential to portray one of the best live action joker, just get rid of 80% of the prosthetic make-up and hes good.
incredibleTalk
incredibleTalk - 1/10/2024, 7:10 PM
Heath Ledger will always be The Joker!!!!


Razorface1
Razorface1 - 1/10/2024, 7:30 PM
@incredibleTalk - he hasnt been for quite a while. On account of his condition you see.
Slotherin
Slotherin - 1/10/2024, 7:36 PM
@Razorface1 -
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 1/10/2024, 8:00 PM
@incredibleTalk - best live action, yes. Best joker belongs to Mark Hamill
JobinJ
JobinJ - 1/10/2024, 9:13 PM
@incredibleTalk - Jack Nicholson is Joker
The72nd
The72nd - 1/11/2024, 12:36 AM
@Razorface1 - reminds me of that tragedy
Deadinside
Deadinside - 1/11/2024, 2:07 PM
@incredibleTalk -
What, no love for the incomparable Cesar Romero...?☮😉
itzayaboy
itzayaboy - 1/10/2024, 7:15 PM
Love the Joker and Keoghan but I want to see other great villains of Batman's rogues gallery on screen.
mountainman
mountainman - 1/10/2024, 7:15 PM
Barry Keoghan is a talented actor and I’d be happy to see him return in the role.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 1/10/2024, 7:21 PM

Now with what we know, Barry Joker MUST cut someone's arm off and beat him to death with it.

harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 1/10/2024, 7:22 PM
seeing as the scene itself was deleted and it looked like sh1t Hopefully they take the joker in a different direction next time as that scene and the ending laugh was CW LEVEL BAD.
Repian
Repian - 1/10/2024, 7:23 PM

Fares
Fares - 1/10/2024, 7:27 PM
@Repian - Where are these from?
Repian
Repian - 1/10/2024, 7:34 PM
@Fares - I discovered it on Reddit. Also, it has given me a good idea. The Joker may suffer from a serious case of vitiligo. A disease that discolors the skin.

https://sirexmedica.com/img/tratamiento/19-Vitiligo.webp
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 1/10/2024, 8:02 PM
@Repian - these look awful, imo
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