Barry Keoghan, the Irishman who overcame a tragic childhood to become the actor everyone wants to hire

In the hit film Saltburn, Barry Keoghan, 31, landed his first leading role as Oliver Quick, a young man on a scholarship to Oxford University who claimed to come from a broken home with an addicted mother. Quick turned out to be a fraud, but Keoghan’s childhood did have all the ingredients of the type of story of overcoming adversity that Hollywood loves: humble origins, family tragedies and several years in foster homes. Restless and nervous, Keoghan began acting in school plays to skip classes until one day he saw an advertisement looking for young actors for a film. Without thinking twice, he picked up the phone and made the call that would change his life. More than 10 years have passed since then. Now Keoghan is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood and, in addition to the massive success of Saltburn (the film quadrupled its views after its release thanks to viral scenes on social media), he is rumored to have been cast to play Ringo Starr in the long-awaited film that director Sam Mendes is making about the life of the members of The Beatles, a project that will be divided into four films, one focused on each artist.

Keoghan did not have an easy childhood. His mother struggled with addiction for several years and died of an overdose when the actor was 12. In addition to Keoghan, she left behind the actor’s older sister and his younger brother, with whom he shared part of his childhood in foster homes. In the end, it was his grandmother who took care of the siblings, with the help of an aunt and his own sister: “She’s my mother’s mother, so it’s like having my ma around. She raised me well, and my auntie as well,” he said in 2017 in an extensive conversation with the Irish Independent.

With such a childhood, Keoghan says he never thought about becoming an actor: his thing was boxing. He didn’t enjoy school, the actor himself has admitted that he liked to misbehave and that he was “the class clown.” In order to avoid classes, he opted to sign up for theater: “There was this production of Oliver Twist and I remember seeing it — it was on a stage full of like 600 people and I was just drawn to it, I wanted to get involved in it. So, I got involved in the school plays,” he told Wonderland magazine in an interview conducted by his colleague and friend Robert Pattinson. He did several Christmas plays but ended up being expelled from school for bad behavior.

Psychological burden

Shortly after, near the boxing club where he was training, he saw an advert stuck to the window of a shop calling for actors. It was 2010 and Keoghan was chosen for a small role in the Irish film Between the Canals, which revolved around three petty criminals. “I was only 17 and I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I got a feel for it, and I found that I was very relaxed in front of the camera, which helps a lot,” he said of this first foray into film. In 2013, he landed a role in the series Love/Hate, an Irish drama about organized crime in Dublin. The show made him famous across the country when he appeared in its penultimate season. Keoghan was aware of how easily he could be pigeonholed into the role of a thug, an archetype he has tried to avoid over the years, even going so far as to reject such roles.

Perhaps because his career began unexpectedly, even spontaneously, he has been very careful not to make any missteps. Thanks to this determination, he has been able to shape peculiar and complex characters, such as Martin in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, the psychological thriller by Yorgos Lanthimos, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. Keoghan’s performance dazzled critics and brought him greater attention. The same year that Lanthimos’ film came to theaters in 2017, he starred in Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan’s film about the harrowing evacuation of the Dunkirk beaches in World War II. The fact that he has worked with two of the most influential and sought-after directors of his time does not seem to be a coincidence. The actor has stated on several occasions that he firmly believes in the power of “manifesting.”

The actor has a long list of directors he wants to work with and has already done so with many of them. At the beginning of the year, he detailed the names of the filmmakers who are still in his notes in GQ: “Barry Jenkins, Paul Thomas Anderson. Christopher Nolan, again. Yorgos again, obviously. Lynne Ramsay. Chloé Zhao, again. Martin McDonagh, obviously, again. And Greta Gerwig as well, I’d love to work with Greta. I think she is fucking incredible.”

With Zhao, Keoghan entered uncharted territory: the actor more at home with independent films starred in the multi-million dollar superhero movie Eternals. In the movie, the actor plays Druig, one of the Eternals, with mind-reading powers. The film featured a stellar cast with names such as Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington and Richard Madden. Keoghan seemed to have taken a liking to the superhero universe because in 2022 he starred in The Batman, landing a tiny role as the Joker. His scene ended up being cut (with the exception of a brief appearance at the end), but it gave rise to all kinds of rumors about Keoghan’s possible participation in the second part of the film.

It’s no surprise that Keoghan wants to work again with Martin McDonagh, the director of the 2022 film The Banshees of Inisherin. In the film, he once again teamed up with Colin Farrell and showed he can play much more than just criminals, taking on the role of Dominic, a complex character who could have fallen into caricature but who Keoghan infused with great humanity. His performance was very convincing. So much so that he won his first Bafta and his first nomination for an Oscar and a Golden Globe in the category of best supporting actor. There is no doubt now about his acting abilities, and Keoghan has been starring in one project after another for years — a pace that fits the actor’s restless character.

Era as a leading man (and partner of a pop star)

That restlessness, however, has a medical explanation. A few months ago he revealed in Esquire magazine that three years ago he was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, something he believes he has suffered from all his life. “It’s something that should be recognized and talked about in adults,” he said. He added how medication has improved his life: “The difference is day and night. My mind used to be like a traffic jam, crazy, and then with the medication it’s like: One car goes, then another car goes.”

Keoghan finished last year with the hit Saltburn and started it with the Apple TV miniseries Lords of the Air, alongside Austin Butler and Callum Turner. Unlike his co-stars, he does not fall into the canon of conventional or prototypical Hollywood beauty. The actor is described as a rodent man, a term applied to atypically attractive men, with big noses and protruding ears, whom fans compare to adorable little mice. He may not have the looks of the classic movie heartthrob, but Keoghan has no intention of staying on the sidelines.

Before Saltburn he asked himself: “Could I lead a movie? Could I keep the audience engaged? That was my plan.” Now that he has achieved that goal, he only wants to “work with good filmmakers and on good projects,” he said in Wonderland. With zero interest in playing two-dimensional characters, Keoghan loves acting challenges, especially when he has to change his accent. He has been working with a coach for years and has a curious technique for perfecting his diction: “I tend to use a plastic spoon all the time because it makes the jaw muscles work,” he said a few months ago.

Despite having starred in some of the most talked-about movies of recent years, for a good part of Gen Z, Barry Keoghan is best known for being the partner of singer and actress Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift’s opening act and one of the biggest rising stars of today. The two have only been dating for a few months, but their romance has been very public: they posed together at the MET Gala last May and a few weeks ago the actor appeared in the music video for Carpenter’s song Please, Please, Please. In this case, Keoghan broke his own rule about avoiding thug roles to play a criminal.

Beyond that, his private life remains private, although the actor has spoken about the son he had in August 2022 with his former partner, Alyson Sandro. The little one, named Brando in homage to Marlon Brando, is the reason why the actor resides in London, although he spends long periods in Los Angeles. Media interest in Keoghan continues to grow, with the Saltburn phenomenon and his romance with Carpenter making him an even bigger celebrity.

Now his professional projects are not limited to cinema. For example, last March Burberry chose him to be its brand ambassador. He admits that fame has made him somewhat less sociable and that he tries to stay “away from the internet.” Boxing, playing PlayStation or going for a walk are everyday pleasures that he tries to return to from time to time: “Stuff that involves me being present. You lose sight of that when you’re on the press tour. It’s about putting the phone down or whatever and taking time to yourself. Be nice to yourself,” he reflected in Vanity Fair.

Keoghan says he wants to be remembered for his characters, not for his name, and given his career — still short but prolific — he is on his way to achieving it. The Irish actor is set to participate in the new film written by The Weeknd, who’s real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye. The singer and producer debuted as an actor (and creator) in the controversial series The Idol and is back in front of the camera in a project that some media have predicted will be “the strangest of 2024.″ Still untitled, the enigmatic film will be directed by Trey Edward Shults and co-stars Jenna Ortega, Keoghan and Tesfaye himself.

There is more information about Keoghan’s other upcoming film, Crime 101, inspired by the novel of the same name by Don Winslow, that also stars Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo. Predictably, it will be released before the end of the year. In Amo Saddam, currently in production, Keoghan once again takes on the role of a soldier, this time in charge of guarding Saddam Hussein before the trial and subsequent execution of the Iraqi dictator.

And for those who want to see him once again as a shepherd from the depths of Ireland, there is Bring Them Down, where the actor plays part of a family of shepherds facing tensions and various feuds. Whether as a gangster, superhero, villain or music star, Barry Keoghan is here to stay.

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