Campus & Community

Extra-special prize for Hasty’s Man of the Year

‘Saltburn’ star Barry Keoghan rolls with the punch lines

2 min read
Barry Keoghan kisses his Pudding Pot.

Barry Keoghan kisses his Pudding Pot at Friday’s roast.

Niles Singer/Harvard Staff Photographer

With a British Academy of Film Award — or BAFTA — already under his belt, the Irish actor Barry Keoghan on Friday received a “BAFTUB” for his work in the black comedy “Saltburn.”

To understand why, see the movie.

“It’s amazing,” Keoghan said of the inflatable prize. “I get to take that home.”

The award was handed out in Farkas Hall alongside a bronze pudding pot as part of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ Man of the Year celebration. As the latest winner of the annual prize, Keoghan joined a list that includes Robert DeNiro, Tom Hanks, and Samuel L. Jackson.

“To see all the names that were before me … it’s just an honor,” he said, adding:  “I automatically feel more intelligent being here. Don’t ask me a sum though.”

In addition to “Saltburn,” Keoghan has made a name for himself in Hollywood with roles in “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “The Batman,” “Dunkirk,” “The Killing of the Sacred Deer,” and Marvel’s “Eternals.”

“They’ve all been equally fun,” the actor said. “From Dominic in ‘Banshees,’ where I got to go in a different direction, to Oliver in ‘Saltburn,’ which gave me a platform to show that I could step up and lead a movie and have that stamina that’s required.”

As is tradition, Keoghan was roasted on stage, with Hasty Pudding members taking cracks at some of his cruder movie moments as well as his Irish heritage and hard-to-pronounce last name.

“I’ll be honest it was quite scary, and I was quite nervous, but there was a bit of a high to it,” Keoghan said of his night in the Hasty spotlight. “I might go and do some stage now.”

The 2024 Woman of the Year, Annette Bening, will be honored, and roasted, in a ceremony on Tuesday.