Barry Keoghan has said he admires the "genuine" quality of Irish actors Colin Farrell, Michael Fassbender and Cillian Murphy, describing it as "something I intend to be".
The 28-year-old Dubliner, who is next set to star in the Marvel superhero epic Eternals and in The Batman alongside Colin Farrell and Robert Pattinson, has experienced a steady ascent in Hollywood since coming to fame as the infamous "cat killer" in Love/Hate.
He has joined Ireland's top acting talent: starring alongside fellow Dubliner Farrell in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer; working with Murphy on Christopher Nolan's war epic Dunkirk, and taking on a BAFTA-nominated role in Calm with Horses - the crime-drama that was executive produced by Fassbender.
Keoghan has said working with these older actors was inspirational, telling the Irish Independent: "The thing I've taken from them is engagement. How they talk to people off screen. I’ve always noticed how they talk and how they hold themselves.
"When you're talking to Colin [Farrell], Cillian [Murphy] or Michael [Fassbender], they look at you and they listen, and it's genuine - no matter who they're talking to - it's genuine, and they give them that time.
"That's a great quality to have and something I'd like to take a leaf out of... leave the acting part out, but as a young man that's something I intend to be."
The industry savvy star also opened up about the next stage in his career, saying he wants to transition into a leading man.
"At the minute I'm looking at getting a bit bulkier; to get away from the typecasting and stuff and to broaden the roles that I'm being offered," Keoghan explained. "Because I've played a lot of parts where I'm the villain or the kid, and now I'm looking to transition into a leading man. It's part of the plan."
However, he wants to be a leading man with a difference. "There's a stereotype that leading men tend to be more muscly but they can't show feelings, they have to be a 'man's man’."
"I want to size up to show that no matter what size you are, you can show your feelings and be vulnerable. It's part of a plan at the minute," he added.
