If you can say one thing for Barry Keoghan, it’s that there’s no fear of him being typecast.
The Dublin actor has undertaken a variety of roles over the last few years, most recently seen as a young university student drawn into a dark dysfunctional family in ‘Saltburn’, and as a World War II pilot in Apple TV series ‘Masters of the Air’.
Now Keoghan is taking a different military role for his next film, as he will play an American soldier in ‘Amo Saddam’, the forthcoming film about Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s last days.
The film will be directed by ‘Chernobyl’ director Johan Renck and will document the days before the captured Hussein’s trial and execution.
It’s based on ‘The Prisoner in His Palace: Saddam Hussein, His American Guards, and What History Leaves Unsaid’ by Will Bardenwerper, which documents the stories of the 12 American soldiers that guarded Hussein after his capture in 2006. Keoghan will play the main soldier, opposite the as-yet-uncast Hussein.
“In the six months preceding Saddam’s execution, our soldier grows close to Saddam, sharing the stale air of a bombed-out palace turned into a high-security prison whilst navigating the fine line separating fact and fiction,’ according to the blurb. “Amo Saddam attempts to reckon with the American imperial machine that has come to define the 21st century.”
Its producer Michael Parets said: “Barry has proven himself time and time again to be an actor who is so adept at playing really complex characters and we couldn’t be happier having him as our lead for what is going to be a challenging, ambitious and hopefully really special film.”
Keoghan can currently be seen in 'Masters of the Air', with other upcoming projects including the film 'Bird' and 'Bring Them Down', the latter alongside Colm Meaney.
