Gen-Z, Authenticity and Being a Bit Weird: What I’ve Learnt about Creativity from Barry Keoghan

I turned 27 on Paddy’s Day and as a certified Paddy, I’ve been proudly stanning the Irish actors out there representing the motherland. From Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer to Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal’s joint slay in All of Us Strangers. We even adopted an American to be our nation’s people’s princess, Oscar-winning Ayo Adebiri. Then there’s Barry Keoghan. Hollywood’s current hyper fixation. I’m on the gen-Z/millennial cusp – so naturally, I too, am obsessed with him. But I’m also obsessed with why. In a world of talentless nepo-babies, what sets him apart? To me, it’s that he’s real. And we know authenticity is in – big time. We spend so much time consuming that we need our media to be real. And I’ve watched enough of Barry’s filmography to make the claim that he can teach us a lot about the merits of being real, being weird and being of the moment. So, let’s get into it.  

We all know honesty when we see it. And bullshit when we smell it. 

Honesty stirs something inside us. Take Barry’s first big roles, Banshees of Inisherin and Killing of a Scared Deer – two unsettling pieces of film, where Barry plays his brooding characters truly, wholly, deeply. Keoghan’s co-star Colin Farrell said to GQ, “that’s what Barry embodies. Truth. It’s innate. He lays it all out there in an instinctual way and it just gets deeper and deeper.” Much like Colin, we’re all seeking something real. In the films we watch, the art we consume, the brands we care about. 78% of gen Z believe that brands are all talk and no action, and 63% say breaking the mould is more important than stability. Where gen-Z and millennials hold most of the world’s purchasing power, our communications should strive to be honest and stop chatting shit. Because we all know shit when we smell it.

Sometimes going off script is what creativity needs.

Barry was catapulted into the limelight through Emerald Fennell’s second film Saltburn, where he plays the lead – Oliver Quick. Among many taboo scenes including the infamous Jacob Elordi bathwater scene, is the grave scene, which scent shockwaves of repulsion across the globe. (If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend if you like feeling uncomfortable). What’s crazy to learn is that Barry improvised this scene. Emerald knew just what to say to get Barry’s creativity whirring. To Vanity Fair, he said: "She plants seeds, Emerald, you know what I mean? She knows that they're going to grow, these seeds, especially when she plants them with me.” To me, she sounds like a brilliant Creative Director. One who knows what you’re capable of and the right things to say to get your brain ticking. As a junior creative, these are the people I want to work with. Those who ask the right questions, write the best briefs and aren’t afraid to take a risk, throw the rulebook away and see what happens. That’s real creativity. 

Being a bit weird is actually an asset. 

Unlike his Saltburn co-star, Jacob Elordi, Barry isn’t a perfectly chiselled, 6ft2 heartthrob. Instead, he’s known and adored for being a bit chaotic. He yaps. He’s funny – perhaps not always intentionally, but regardless, we’re invited to laugh at him. This might have something to do with his ADHD, but he’s truly unfiltered. I like to think of myself in a similar vein. I’ve found it impossible to craft a professional persona to wade through the working world with. I want to be real and I want to be me and I’m lucky I get to work somewhere where that’s appreciated and welcomed. And in the world, it’s just what our screens and hearts yearn for. Whether we like weirdness or not, Hollywood definitely do as Barry’s now set to play The Joker – a role reserved for only the greats of Joaquin Phoenix and Heath Ledger and now Barry Keoghan. So I say: stay strange, it’s much more fun than being normal anyways.

You can’t teach authenticity. So if you’ve got it, hold onto it. 

What inspired me to write this was watching Barry Keoghan’s Hot Ones, where he chatted about his rise to stardom over increasingly spicy chicken wings. While it seems overnight, his career took 10 years of somewhat careful planning, precision and dedication. While his name’s in lights, his head’s definitely not in the clouds. He says on getting his first big roles that “there’s a sudden pressure. I gotta know how to speak and project and sit up straight. I’m not saying I’m against it but I’m like, keep that authenticity. If you slouch you slouch. You know what I mean? Keep that mumbling, keep all of that. Don’t train yourself into what everyone else is doing because you don’t stand out there. They wanna see what they can’t put a finger on”. Authenticity is such a buzzword. If you have to talk about it so much, are you really being authentic at all? Take a leaf out of Barry’s book and be authentic to you. Not authentic in general. Not seemingly honest and vulnerable. Just you. That’s real authenticity. That’s what gen-Z want to see.

Maybe manifestation works?

While it may seem like spiritual nonsense, manifestation can for real set you up. Or at least Barry believes so. Manifestation seems to be a key part of Barry’s career, he defines this as when “you subconsciously work towards something, set it out and put it out there to the universe.”. In GQ he elaborates: “Say something out loud, call it forth from the universe”. His notes app list of all the directors he’d like to work with seems to be proof of it, as he’s crossed out many on a list he made at the start of his career. Manifestation isn’t about chanting and hoping for the best but actively working towards a future where your goals are real. If you can’t imagine something how can it ever be yours? I didn’t go to ad school and I didn’t study marketing but I have always followed my gut, oriented myself towards the things I’m good at, and hoped I’d find a career where I could use my creativity and words for good. And now I get to do just that. 

We’re sick of being sold to, and we’re sick and tired of feeling like everything is created just to get us to purchase it. If we’re going to buy something, we want it to feel real. So if you take anything from this, let it be to do as Barry does and honour yourself, your quirks, your weirdness and what sets you apart. For your life, the brands you work with, the copy you write and the way you think will thank you for it. As the world becomes more and more about authenticity, you’ve gotta live and breathe it, because if not, we can all tell.