With Marvel Studios having an incredibly rough 2023, you have to wonder if any of the previous films will get a bit of a reconsideration. The one that springs to mind most is “Eternals.” At the time, there were people who swore “Eternals” was the worst thing Marvel had ever produced. But, after seeing some of the more recent things, like the VFX mess of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” or the stodgy writing in “Secret Invasion,” it makes you sorta think fondly about Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals,” with its lush cinematography and all-star cast giving it their all. Well, that may be a discussion for another day, but even back then, we could all agree that Barry Keoghan’s role in “Eternals,” as the telepath Druig, was actually pretty great. And you wouldn’t believe the inspiration Zhao gave him for the role.
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Speaking as part of a GQ video where he talks about his biggest roles, Barry Keoghan spoke a little about his prep work for “Eternals.” No, he didn’t talk about some ridiculous diet and workout routine. Instead, he explained that most of his preparation for the role of Druig was to find a way to be more still. And the character that Zhao kept pointing out for Keoghan to base his performance on was Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker in the ‘Star Wars’ prequels.
“Chloe just kinda let me be me and wanted me to kinda be still,” explained Keoghan. “Chloe kept referencing Hayden Christensen—his character in ‘Star Wars’—she just wanted me to be a bit more still, very chin-high. That’s kinda all the prep I had done—to learn to walk a bit slower.”
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Honestly, there are probably not many folks in Hollywood who have been told to mimic Christensen from the ‘Star Wars’ prequels. His performance as Anakin Skywalker, especially in “Attack of the Clones,” is often seen as not-so-great, to put it mildly. I mean, for decades now, we’ve poked fun at his line delivery (and the dialogue in general) for the infamous sand scene. But it appears Keoghan and Zhao were able to mine Christensen’s performance to find some gold.
And when you think about that inspiration and rewatch some of Keoghan’s scenes, you can definitely see the influence. Not to say Keoghan’s Druig came off as wooden or bad in any way, but the way he carried himself definitely has some Anakin vibes.
Of course, we still don’t know if we’ll ever see Keoghan return as the character. As mentioned, upon its release, “Eternals” was lambasted by just about everyone. So, it seemed as if a sequel just wasn’t going to be in the cards. But if so, it’ll definitely be interesting to see how Keoghan approaches the character in another project.
