Barry Keoghan reveals he improvised that grave scene in Saltburn

Saltburn has plenty of scenes worth talking about, but turns out that certain grave scene was felt, rather than spoken into existence.

Saltburn is the movie everyone’s talking about, for better or worse. Directed by Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell, the movie’s synopsis reads: “Distraught by his classmate Oliver’s unfortunate living situation, Felix, a rich student, invites him over to his estate. Soon, a series of horrifying events engulf Felix’s family.”

The movie certainly has some “horrifying” moments, some that have even supposedly ruined families. There’s the infamous bathtub scene of course, but there’s also the grave scene.

We’ve already discussed what a shocking moment it was for viewers, but the scene of Oliver (Barry Keoghan) at Felix’s (Jacob Elordi) fresh grave certainly blindsided some people. And it coming out of nowhere makes sense, considering that Keoghan has revealed that he improvised the…you know.

Barry Keoghan doesn’t “judge” the grave scene in Saltburn

Speaking of the grave scene to GQ, Keoghan explained how he felt free to play with what his character would do and feel in such a situation: “I just wanted to explore and grow with the character, and figure him out.

“I asked for a closed set. I said ‘I want to try something’. And I just wanted to see what I’d do as Oliver when action happens and where I went. And to me, he just went to a place of being totally heart-broken, and lost, and confused.”

This does slightly contradict with what the actor said to Entertainment Weekly, which was that he and Fennell agreed upon it on the day of shooting: “She plants seeds, 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 and having that idea and me meeting it with, to be honest, no questions. I was totally on board for it.

“For me, it wasn’t about fecking the grave, it was more about I don’t know what to do with this obsession; it’s making me confused and making me unhuman in a way. It was a total discovery for him, I think. And it was sad. It was very, very sad.”

Although, his positive feelings of collaborating with Fennell is emphasised in this GQ interview, as he made sure to mention that “Emerald, I mean she’s an amazing person, always checking on everyone, making sure our set is good, and the energy’s good, so you have a safeness to roam about as the character.”

Speaking on Oliver embracing the grave in the way he does, as well as what he does in the bathtub scene, the actor said “You can’t judge that as you’re playing him. I can judge it as a spectator, but when I’m playing him I gotta see justice to it, and see that it’s the right thing to do.”

With a 71% Critics’ Score on Rotten Tomatoes, reception to Saltburn has been somewhat mixed so far, and that can be seen in the reactions to Keoghan’s admission of improvising.

Check out some of the responses below on X (formerly Twitter):

Saltburn is available on streaming now.