Barry Keoghan

Barry Keoghan Nominated for 2024 Golden Globe for Saltburn

Irish actor Barry Keoghan has garnered another prestigious nomination, receiving a 2024 Golden Globe nod for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama for his performance in Saltburn. This recognition comes just a year after his highly praised role in The Banshees of Inisherin, cementing Keoghan as a rising star in Hollywood.

In Saltburn, a 2023 dark comedy-thriller, Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, a cunning student at Oxford University. In an interview with Vogue, Keoghan shared insights into his preparation for the role, revealing that he filled five notebooks with notes on his character’s development. “I wanted his demeanor, his pace, his physicality to change,” he explained. “I wanted this evolution to happen, and I wanted to be on top of that, especially with someone like Oliver, whose demeanor and motives shift throughout the film.”

Keoghan’s meticulous approach to portraying Oliver has clearly paid off, earning him recognition during this year’s awards season.

Barry Keoghan: A Rising Star in Irish Cinema

Barry Keoghan is an acclaimed Irish actor recognized for his powerful performances in films such as Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Banshees of Inisherin. Overcoming a challenging childhood marked by his mother’s drug addiction and time spent in over a dozen foster homes, Keoghan has risen to become one of the most promising talents in Hollywood. His role in The Banshees of Inisherin earned him both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in 2023, cementing his status as a scene-stealing performer. He is also starring in Saltburn and the highly anticipated World War II miniseries Masters of the Air, set for release in January 2024.

Early Life and Family Challenges

Born on October 18, 1992, in Dublin’s Summerhill neighborhood, Barry Keoghan’s early life was marked by adversity. Raised by his mother, Debbie, who struggled with heroin addiction, Keoghan and his younger brother, Eric, were placed in foster care when Barry was just five years old. The brothers lived in 13 different foster homes before finally settling with their grandmother, Patricia, and other close family members. Despite the hardships, Keoghan maintains fond memories of his mother, who passed away when he was 12. He frequently speaks of how her memory influences his work and continues to be a source of inspiration.

Early Interests and the Path to Acting

Keoghan’s youth was not without its challenges. A self-proclaimed troublemaker during his school years at O’Connell School in Dublin, he was even removed from a school play for misbehavior. His passion for film developed during this time, sparked by watching classic Hollywood films and admiring iconic actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean. Though Keoghan initially dreamed of becoming a professional athlete—following in the footsteps of his cousin, Irish soccer star Frank Stapleton—his focus shifted to boxing, a sport he trained in for 10 years.

Keoghan’s path to acting began unexpectedly. As a teenager, he noticed an ad in a local shop window seeking actors for a film. Drawn by the idea of earning money, Keoghan auditioned and landed a small role in Between the Canals (2011). This early experience led him to pursue formal training at The Factory (now Bow Street Academy), a leading acting school in Dublin.

Breakthrough and International Success

Keoghan’s breakthrough came with a standout performance in the Irish crime drama series Love/Hate in 2013, where his portrayal of Wayne gained him national recognition. From there, his career rapidly ascended to international acclaim. His haunting performance in The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) alongside Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman earned him critical praise, while his role in Christopher Nolan’s war epic Dunkirk (2017) introduced him to a global audience.

Keoghan’s ability to embody complex, emotionally charged characters continued to garner attention, culminating in his Academy Award-nominated performance in The Banshees of Inisherin. His scene-stealing role in the film solidified his reputation as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.

As Keoghan’s career progresses, he remains grounded in his roots, often reflecting on how his challenging upbringing shaped his determination and resilience. With an impressive body of work already behind him and several high-profile projects on the horizon, including Masters of the Air, Barry Keoghan’s star continues to rise.

Movies: Dunkirk, Eternals, and The Batman’s Joker

Barry Keoghan began earning steady work in the early 2010s, often cast as a troubled, skittish character in films like ’71 (2014) and Trespass Against Us (2016). His breakthrough came in 2017, with a pair of contrasting roles that highlighted his range as an actor.

First, Keoghan portrayed young civilian sailor George in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017), alongside Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Harry Styles. His next role was in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, where he gave a chilling performance as Martin, a teenager with unclear sinister motives, in a psychological thriller directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The film was divisive, garnering boos at Cannes but also earning acclaim from critics. Keoghan embraced the film’s polarizing nature, telling W Magazine, “Some people dig it, some don’t. I love that. I don’t want to be in movies that show and tell, basically, and have their happy endings. I want to be in movies where filmmakers are telling unique stories and challenging people.” He also shared how he bonded with co-stars Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, with Farrell becoming a mentor.

Following these roles, Keoghan appeared in films such as American Animals (2018), Calm with Horses (2019), and The Green Knight (2021), before stepping into the world of superhero cinema. He played Druig in Marvel’s Eternals (2021), and in The Batman (2022), he made a brief yet memorable appearance as the “Unseen Arkham Prisoner,” later revealed to be the Joker. Though his role was small, Keoghan hinted at a larger presence in the forthcoming The Batman Part II (2025), teasing his return to the iconic villain.

Keoghan’s versatility was recognized with his role in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), a black comedy directed by Martin McDonagh. The New York Times described his portrayal of Dominic as the film’s “MVP,” and Keoghan received widespread acclaim, earning nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe, and Academy Awards, ultimately winning at the BAFTA Awards. His latest role in Saltburn (2023) as Oxford student Oliver Quick garnered another Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.

TV Roles: Rebellion, Chernobyl, and Masters of the Air

While Keoghan is best known for his film work, he has also maintained a presence on television. He made his first significant TV appearance in the 2016 miniseries Rebellion, portraying soldier Cormac McDevitt in a dramatization of the 1916 Easter Rising. In 2019, he appeared in Chernobyl, the acclaimed HBO miniseries, where he played Pavel in two episodes of the show’s portrayal of the 1986 nuclear disaster. More recently, Keoghan starred in the British crime drama Top Boy (2023) and is set to appear in the 2024 war miniseries Masters of the Air. Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, this series, which debuts on January 26 on Apple TV+, is a spiritual successor to Band of Brothers (2001) and follows the 100th Bomb Group of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.

Personal Life: Son and Dating

Off-screen, Keoghan is a father to his son, Brando, born in August 2022. Named after the iconic actor Marlon Brando, Keoghan shared in an interview with Esquire that he draws on his relationship with his grandmother as inspiration for his parenting. “She raised 10. She had a great, what do you call it, attitude about everything. Man or woman, that’s what I base it on. She was my father and mother in one,” he said.

Keoghan has been linked to several women in the past, most recently Sabrina Carpenter. The pair sparked dating rumors in December 2023 after being seen together in Los Angeles, though neither has confirmed their relationship. Before becoming a father, Keoghan dated Irish model Shóna Guerin from 2017 to 2020. He later met Scottish orthodontist Alyson Sandro in early 2021, and they welcomed their son later that year before parting ways in 2023.

ADHD Diagnosis

In 2020, Keoghan was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a condition typically diagnosed in childhood but also affecting adults. Keoghan had long suspected the disorder due to his difficulties with concentration and distractibility, and he opened up about it in a 2022 podcast interview. Reflecting on the impact of medication, he described it as life-changing: “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.”