Call me by your Saltburn, babes.
In a one-on-one interview between Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan for British Vogue, the actors discussed what drew them to work on Saltburn, which was written and directed by Emerald Fennell.
“When I met Emerald, she told me that she had you kind of down to do it,” Keoghan said. “So Emerald, yourself, and the script [drew me to the film.]”
“Definitely, it was Emerald,” Elordi agreed. “Then she said she wanted Timothée Chalamet for it. And I said, ‘Have you thought about Barry Keoghan?’ You and Em, for sure, were a big part of it.”
Keoghan then joked that Chalamet “wasn’t walking at his knees,” perhaps suggesting that the Dune, Bones and All, Wonka, and Dune: Part Two actor was already extremely booked and blessed when Saltburn was scheduled to film.
While we could imagine a multiverse where Chalamet played Oliver, we simply cannot unsee Keoghan’s spectacular performance in the film, making it hard for us to re-cast this character with literally any other actor.
Elsewhere in the interview, Keoghan and Elordi talked about having a lot of fun on set while filming Saltburn. Both actors apparently had Game Boy Advance devices with them and were playing Pokémon games throughout the shoot. Keoghan said that he played Pokémon FireRed, whereas Elordi noted that he played Pokémon Emerald (‘cause Emerald Fennell… get it?).
It’s undeniable that these two actors developed a great relationship between them. In fact, this bond was in full display on all the red carpets and press interviews they did to promote Saltburn.
Y’all know we love us some Timothée Chalamet, but this was definitely a movie for Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi to shine.
Saltburn is now streaming on Prime Video.