Spoilers ahead for Saltburn.
Plenty of cinephiles are watching new movies currently, thanks to releases in theaters for the holiday weekend as well as projects that have finally arrived on streaming. Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn is in the latter category, with the wild dark comedy now available with an Amazon Prime subscription. For her part, Fennell trolled fans about its streaming release, joking that it was a perfect holiday movie for the whole family. Actor Barry Kegohan shared his true reaction to Saltburn‘s viral bathroom water scene, and why he had no problem filming it. Although he was quoted saying “yeah it’s disgusting.” I mean, was he wrong?
What we knew about Saltburn before its release was limited, and the movie packed plenty of wild twists– especially related to Keoghan’s character Oliver Quick and his obsession with Jacob Elordi’s Felix. Specifically Keoghan masturbating on a grave and also drinking the bath water that Felix had masturbated into. The actor spoke to Variety about bringing the latter sequence to life, sharing his perspective of the tub heard and seen around the world. As he put it,
I looked at that and went, ‘I’m going to show some maturity here and my commitment to my craft and challenge myself.’ I’ll do anything once that moves the story forward and if there’s a right reason for it creatively. I’m not going to do something because it’s out there or for the ‘wow’ factor. And when this came up, I was totally up for it. Because it felt right for Oliver. Now, were there discussions about it? Yeah, of course. Because I want to know motives and objectives.
Fair point. Saltburn follows as Oliver’s obsession with Felix increases, with things eventually turning both unsettling and violent. When he sees Elordi’s character masturbating into their shared tub, he eventually stays behind and laps up the water, in what is perhaps the most iconic scene of the entire movie. It’s both cringe and fascinating, and Keoghan definitely thought about his approach to the scene.
Reception for the movie has been positive, with CinemaBlend’s Saltburn review claiming it was one of the best movies of the year. This is at least partly thanks to some of its more shocking sequences and plot twists. Later in that same interview, Keoghan got into the weeds of how/why he lapped up the bath water, offering:
Take the bath scene. Yeah, it’s disgusting. But when you get into it, it’s a different level of obsession this boy has. That’s why I made the choice to rub my face along the plug hole and not slurp it straight away — because I’m trying to take it to a new level. Oliver doesn’t even know what he’s doing; he’s confused. He’s thinking, ‘I just want to be part of it. I want it to be on me. I want it to be me.’ I was discovering that with the character, as well.
Now that is some methodical acting. While some actors might simply want to get the scene over with, Barry Keoghan wanted the bathtub sequence to show the different sides of Oliver’s obsession with Felix. In addition to the sexual nature of his act, there’s also both tenderness and confusion involved.
Of course, Keoghan would end up doing a number of seemingly daunting tasks throughout the movie’s runtime. That includes his naked Saltburn dance sequence, which included full frontal. While speaking with Variety, he revealed how the bath scene wasn’t originally in the script, as he put it:
And Emerald is so good about creating that safe environment. Even the grave scene, I was like, ‘Can I have a closed set? I’d like to try something.’ On paper, he wasn’t written to do that. 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? It’s trying to find that new level of obsession. Trying to level up on the obsession. It’s quite sad because he didn’t even know what to do. He’s a lost boy who’s confused and doesn’t know what he’s chasing. And he never gets the fulfillment of what he’s chasing.
Looks like both he and Fennell understood what a vulnerable place Keoghan would be in for the bath scene, which is why she closed the set. And in the end this sequence would really get people talking, and interested to see the lunacy that was Saltburn. Clearly the special care taken for the movie’s contents paid off.
Saltburn is streaming now on Amazon. Be sure to check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.