‘The Batman’: Barry Keoghan Originally Auditioned for The Riddler Before Bagging the Legendary Joker

Barry Keoghan Auditioned for The Riddler

The Batman actor Barry Keoghan actually wanted to portray the character of Riddler in the movie, but the audition video he sent across got him the role of Joker. Fans of The Batman gained a wonderful performance from Paul Dano as the Riddler when the movie was released in March earlier this year. Dano gave a really original character and put his own spin on the goon who has tortured Bruce Wayne for decades.

Barry Keoghan
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Though, one actor who was also seen in The Batman almost took the role from Dano. Barry Keoghan debuted as the Joker in the movie, although his part was comparably short and covered in a thriller. Luckily, an expanded deleted scene was released following the film’s theatrical run, with Keoghan given more time to gleam as the iconic villain of the caped fighter.

As it accounters, Keoghan originally auditioned for the Riddler role and even submitted an audition video that has been available online for years. In the video, we see a distant different take on the role than what we have seen in The Batman. Keoghan’s Riddler is seen in a comic-accurate dress, with green shoulder straps and his signature bowler hat. The video was posted to his official Vimeo three years ago, with only 5,000 views and 5 comments on the video now.

Keoghan Says His Riddler Audition Lead to the Joker role

During a new GQ profile, Barry Keoghan said his Riddler audition and how it led to his ultimate casting as the Joker. “I wanted to be Riddler,” Keoghan quoted, saying he actually submitted his video and met with producer Dylan Clark in spite of the role already being given to Dano.

Barry Keoghan
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Though, four months later, the actor received a call at dinner from his manager saying, “The Batman’ wants you to play the Joker, but you cannot tell anyone.”

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