Barry Keoghan on New Movie ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ and Acting With a Donkey in a Super Bowl Ad
Barry Keoghan has good luck with donkeys. He last shared the screen with one in 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin, in which Jenny the Donkey stole hearts as Colin Farrell’s beloved pet. Banshees earned Keoghan his first Oscar nomination. Now he returns to rural Ireland with a new mule named Don Mosley for a Super Bowl ad touting the website service Squarespace.
The pair teased their collaboration in a pre-Super Bowl ad called Barry and Mosley. And now the actual spot has dropped, embedded below. Keoghan checked in with The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom from London to talk about the commercial, walk us through some Irish geography and tell as much as he can about his upcoming movie with the Weeknd, whose trailer dropped today.
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Hi, Barry! Can you put your camera on or no?
I’d rather not because it’s 9:00 p.m. and I look a bit … You know what — for you, OK.
You look as handsome as ever.
Thank you.
You’re very welcome. Where are you right now?
I’m in London at the minute.
Oh, I miss London. How is it?
It’s great. You know what? It’s just nice being back. My little boy is here and it’s so good. Just being in the same time zone as him and getting to see him whenever I want and spending some quality dad time.
Do people give you space when you walk around London or do they come running up to you now?
It depends. It’s not crazy. I say I’ve got a good fan base that are very respectful. Especially if they see you with your child, they’re not going to be weird and that. The English are quite good that way. They’re stubborn in a way. There’s a bit of a pride thing going on.
They keep it cool.
Yeah, keep it cool is the thing.
Awesome. Well congratulations on your first Super Bowl ad. That has to be something new.
Thank you. It’s actually amazing to be part of a Super Bowl ad because I know how big they are and it’s sort of like a holiday over there, the Super Bowl. It’s massive.
I don’t know what they’re charging this year for an ad, but it’s insane amounts of money and yours is going to air between the first and second quarter, I hear. So they’re paying probably more than the cost of most of your movies to put you in this ad. [A 30-second spot is $8 million.]
I don’t like talking about money. I’m in it for the art, isn’t it? And I truly mean that. I was really into the idea of this and the throwback to Banshees and getting to bring Ireland to the screen again and just being a part of that. But yeah, it’s obviously nice as well, I’ll be honest.
So who pitched you on this idea? It’s not the same donkey as Banshees.
No, not Jenny. It ain’t Jenny, though. Jenny, she’s all booked out, I think. Yeah, she’s all booked out.
She’s too busy now.
Yeah, she’s too busy. But it’s the same animal handler, Eddie Drew, who I’ve worked with on nearly every movie in Ireland, and he’s amazing. It was just a lovely little time before Christmas as well to get back and be in Ireland and be with my own people and feel the love. The scenery is gorgeous and there’s nothing like it. And to be filming an ad as well, which is, it is great, but it was [Australian director] Steve Rogers who pitched him. He’s a lovely lad. And [Bird producer] Lee Groombridge who produced it, who I’ve worked with before as well. A great team.
Was it shot in the same place as Banshees?
It was shot in County Clare. So Banshees was shot in County Mayo. Achill Island, actually, and Conamara. But yeah, it’s similar in and around there. The weather was switching every 10 minutes. It was sunny. There was rainbows. I think I seen a leprechaun at one stage. I’m not even sure. It was just beautiful right before Christmas to end the year. It was lovely. I could pop in to see my lovely granny.
And it’s for Squarespace. This is a company I’ve used since 2018. If you put my name in a browser, you get a Squarespace website.
No way.
Yeah, so I am already a customer. You’ve already sold me.
Good on you. You know what? Have you seen the full advert yet?
I’ve seen it, yeah. You’re throwing laptops in the village like newspapers.
To have that kind set against the backdrop of Ireland is quite comical. But I’m behind Squarespace. As they say, “Dream big.” I’ll check it out. I’ll check your website.
And then I saw some photos come out today about your movie with The Weeknd, Hurry Up Tomorrow. What can you tell me about it?
Yeah, you know what? I was just chatting to Abel [Tesfaye] actually just before you rang. I’m so excited for that. I cannot wait. Jenna [Ortega] is amazing. Abel’s amazing. The images are just a little taste of what’s to come.
What can you tell us about the plot?
I can’t really. I’ve been told not to. Usually when I try not to say something, I end up saying everything. We shot it about two years ago.
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