Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan may have just exited the Gladiator sequel, but he has another project waiting in the wings, as he’s set to star in Bird, which is the next film from acclaimed writer-director Andrea Arnold, Above the Line has exclusively learned.
There are no plot details available for Bird, as the project has really only been mentioned in a single line of the filmmaker’s bio on the Cannes Film Festival website. That said, it presented a scheduling conflict for Keoghan, according to multiple sources, and he was forced to leave the role of Emperor Geta in Gladiator 2 in the capable hands of Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus).
Keoghan is coming off a big year in which he played the Joker opposite Robert Pattinson in The Batman and earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting turn in The Banshees of Inisherin. This year, he is expected to be in awards contention once again, as he stars alongside Jacob Elordi in Emerald Fennell‘s thriller Saltburn. He also plays a prominent role in Apple’s big-budget limited series Masters of the Air, which will surely be a strong Emmy contender next year.
Keoghan’s early work in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, American Animals, and Christopher Nolan‘s Dunkirk brought him well-deserved attention, and he went on to star in Marvel’s Eternals, David Lowery‘s fantasy film The Green Knight, and HBO’s masterpiece of a miniseries, Chernobyl.
The 30-year-old Irish actor has also wrapped the indie Bring Them Down, which pairs him with Christopher Abbott, as well as an untitled project from Waves director Trey Edward Shults that co-stars Jenna Ortega and The Weeknd. Additionally, he’s set to star in a Billy the Kid movie from his American Animals director Bart Layton.
Arnold’s early short films include Dog (2001) and the Oscar-winning Wasp (2005), her most acclaimed feature is probably Fish Tank, and her most recent film was the BAFTA-nominated documentary Cow, so clearly, she has a thing for simplistic, animal-centric titles.
Arnold’s other films include her 2006 debut Red Road, an adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights starring Kaya Scodelario, and the Cannes jury prize-winning American Honey starring Sasha Lane and Shia LaBeouf. She has also directed several episodes of the Amazon series Transparent and I Love Dick, as well as Season 2 of HBO’s Big Little Lies.
Keoghan is represented by WME, Entertainment 360, and B-Side Management, while Arnold is repped by the Gersh Agency and Sayle Screen.
