From ruggedly handsome woodworkers restoring vintage furniture in their garages to sexy bakers showing off their sourdough starters, social media audiences have become increasingly obsessed with men whose appeal comes not from performance, but process. As we enter the era of online artisanal boyfriends, 26-year-old model and actor Billy Keogh stands out.
Known for his work in Law & Order, Keogh moves easily between the worlds of luxury fashion and entertainment. On red carpets, he looks every bit the rising Hollywood star he is —often dressed in Prada or other sharp designer looks that lean into his classic leading man appeal. Conversely, his social media tells a different story. His videos, which regularly pull in hundreds of thousands of views, show him in jeans and T-shirts quietly throwing clay on the wheel and shaping ceramic pieces by hand, far removed from the glitz that comes with a career in the spotlight.
Photo: Matt Alves.
With striking good looks and a burgeoning career, Keogh could get lost in the ever-increasing attention, but his online presence (@thebillykeogh on TikTok and Instagram) comes across as grounded and unexpectedly sincere. His pottery videos iterate a new kind of masculinity rooted in patience, craftsmanship, and presence.
Raised in Mill Creek, Washington, Keogh describes himself as someone who prefers not to sit idly by. Instead he keeps himself busy by writing, exercising, and shooting photos on his medium format camera. All hobbies that speak to the importance of not living for the limelight.
Before acting, Keogh was enrolled at the University of Washington to study Computer Science and Software Engineering. A gap year led him to sign with a modeling agency and from there, he gained the attention of Hollywood, with roles in short films and TV shows.
Photo: Matt Alves.
Part of Keogh’s mystique is that he still feels slightly undiscovered. His social media presence feels restrained and private. He doesn’t do a lot of interviews and as an actor, he lets his performances speak for themselves. At home, in the garage-turned-studio he created during the pandemic alongside his father (also a ceramicist), he started posting his progress videos back in 2022. Since then, these videos have garnered millions of views. Watching Keogh throw clay has the oddly hypnotic quality of watching someone disappear into a skill and his videos feel less like content and more like catching someone in the middle of a real life.
He never imagined living as a full-time creative but if the comments on his pottery videos are any indication, Billy’s status as a bona fide internet crush is cemented. As more audiences yearn to see people live out their lives in a way that feels authentic and genuine, Keogh takes the cake for striking the right balance of sexiness and down-to-earth sensibility.
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