Barry Keoghan: My background is not a pity story

Saltburn star Barry Keoghan has said he doesn’t want his background to be a “pity story”, saying he hopes it can inspire other children with a similar upbringing.

The actor and his brother spent most of their childhood in foster care after their mother, who struggled with drug addiction, became unable to care for them.

“I speak about it to let younger kids know no matter where you come from, you can always achieve what you put your mind to” he said.

Keoghan addressed rumours and criticised internet trolls for making assumptions about his family life on The Louis Theroux Podcast.

Asked about his mother’s heroin addiction, the actor said it “caught her” as well as his uncle and father.

“She was just unable to look after us. My father wasn’t there and so we got taken into care.

“That kind of thing still haunts me” he said, “you don’t forget waiting on the social worker steps and waiting for a new family to come and play with you.

“You ask why you?”

Throughout his childhood Keoghan had 14 foster homes between the ages of five and nine, made up from 13 families and his own grandmother, an upbringing that he said has given left him with “trust issues”.

“I never trusted when someone said they love me. I’d always think, ‘nah, this isn’t real’.”

Whilst living with his grandmother, Keoghan said he could remember his mother “screaming through the letterbox… just wanting money”.

“That was one of the last times I heard her, her voice and that stuff haunts me”.

His mother died when he was aged 12.

Discovering a passion for performing at school, he decided to study acting at The Factory, Bow Street Academy.

He would go on to make his feature film debut in the 2011 Irish film Between the Canals.

Since rising to international fame through his performances in The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn, Keoghan has been the subject of online abuse with people mocking his appearance and attacking his relationship with his son.

The incidents became more frequent when his relationship with singer Sabrina Carpenter was put under media scrutiny.

“There’s a lot (of abuse) online” he said, “If I didn’t have tough skin or the strength to have, I wouldn’t be sitting here.

“The more public I’ve become, the less I’ve posted about my child because I don’t think it is fair to put my child online.”

He went on to say “because I have reined that in, people draw a narrative and go ‘absent father, deadbeat dad’.

“I’m not an absent father…people love to use my son as ammunition.

“It sickens me, makes me furious.”

When asked by Theroux how he feels when people attack the actor’s “distinct” appearance, Keoghan called it “absolutely disgusting” that people would “pick someone’s appearance apart.

“It’s lucky I have tough skin to be honest,” he said.

While his relationship with Please Please Please singer Carpenter has continued to bring him more attention across social media platforms, Keoghan said he is “incredibly blessed”.

He called her a “strong independent lady who is massively talented and very special”.

Keoghan, who will be in the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, said he chooses to take his life experiences and use them as therapy by investing them in his acting.

“I try bring real emotion into it,” he said. “I do therapy and I have a good way of managing stuff now.”

Keoghan grew up in Summerhill, an area of Dublin known for struggling economically.

He told Theroux he was “lucky to get out” but he still has love for the area that it is “full of gorgeous people”.

“I want to go back and set up some sort of youth club and employ people from the area,” he added.