Barry Keoghan to play outlaw Billy the Kid in upcoming film

The Oscar-nominated actor confirmed he would be taking part in a new feature film about the notorious gunslinger in an interview with Deadline on Wednesday.

Speaking to the publication, Barry said he wants to “humanise” Billy onscreen with the help of director Bart Layton, whom he previously worked with on American Animals.

“We’ve seen many versions of Billy the Kid on screen before,” he explained.

“My interest was in trying to tell a version that breaks from the facade of that cool, calm, and collected gunslinger Billy the Kid that we’re all used to seeing. I wanted to humanize him in a way”.

Billy the Kid was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American frontier who is believed to have killed 21 men before being shot dead at the age of 21.

Barry, a former foster child, opened up about resonating with the cowboy, who was born as Henry McCarty in 1859 and was orphaned at the age of 15.

“I remember reading about him as a kid, but as we were digging into the project, there were so many things we discovered about his life.

“There are so many eyewitness accounts, and lots of different versions of his story that didn’t add up but that contributed to the legend.”]

“I wanted to step outside of the legend that was built up by the papers and tackle the pressure he must have felt from those early days. He was running his whole life.

“I felt related to Billy in the sense of him being a mummy’s boy, but obviously, I took a different path, turning my circumstances into something positive rather than rebelling against them.

“Nevertheless, there’s a soul and a vulnerability to Billy that I think it’s important to bring, to understand him as a real person rather than the myth that he has become.”

Layton said there are aspects to the role that Keoghan was “born to do”.

“Our understanding of Billy the Kid is really the comic book version. But the more we researched and the more we discussed, the more it felt like something Barry was born to do.

“There’s a cornered child aspect to Billy that I think Barry really understands, and of the violence he has been immortalised for, not all of it was intended or premeditated. A lot of it was circumstance edging him forward,” Layton said.

Producer Ed Guiney has worked with Keoghan on two previous films and believes he will be perfect to play the outlaw.

“Barry has the ability to capture a duality in the way he acts; there’s great sweetness and gentleness, but also there can be darkness and violence. He can really embody both things at once, and that’s the essence of Billy the Kid.”