Barry Keoghan reveals ‘Saltburn’ grave sex scene was totally improvised
Barry Keoghan has revealed that a disturbing scene in Saltburn, in which his character has sex with a grave, was not originally part of the script.
Emerald Fennell’s black comedy has become a social media sensation since its release on Amazon Prime Video last month, with a number of its more shocking scenes – including the infamous bathtub moment and “vampire sex” – emerging as hot topics for viewers. However, it’s the unsettling grave sequence that has really got fans talking.
The film stars Keoghan as Oliver Quick, a middle-class Oxford student who struggles to fit in with his wealthy peers on campus, until striking up a friendship with Jacob Elordi’s charming aristocrat Felix Catton.
Oliver is eventually invited by Felix to spend the summer at his family home, called Saltburn – a large mansion in the British countryside.
The twist at the end of the film reveals that Oliver actually killed Felix, leading to the chilling moment where he penetrates the mud of his freshly dug grave.
“On paper, he wasn’t written to do that,” Keoghan revealed to Variety. “But I wanted to see what actually happened, where I would take it. I wanted to be confused and let my body lead the way. What am I doing? How can I get closer?”
Speaking of the scene, Fennell explained to Enterainment Weekly how it came as an afterthought, saying: “I spoke to Barry in the morning. And I just said, ‘I don’t know, Barry. I think that he would…unzip’ […] And Barry just said, ‘Yup.”
On her decision, Barry expanded: “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. But it is a testament to Emerald having that idea and me meeting it with. To be honest, no questions. I was totally on board for it.'”
Fennell added: “There’s no way it couldn’t be in the film. There’s no way I could see a performance of that dedication — an expression of grief and love as intense as that — and not show it.”
Elsewhere, Margot Robbie, whose production company LuckyChap Entertainment was behind the film, recently revealed that the infamous bathtub scene “didn’t feel that shocking” to her when she first read the script.
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Chris Edwards
NME
