Barry Keoghan made audiences gasp with his stand-out performance in Saltburn – and he’s now set to make waves all over again with his upcoming film Bird (due in cinemas in February 2025).
In the coming-of-age drama, he plays Bug, a devoted but chaotic single father to a daughter.
Following that, he’ll join Cillian Murphy in the upcoming Peaky Blinders film.
“Cillian will be like, ‘Zip it!’” the Irish actor, 32, tells WHO when he’s asked for details about the movie that will wrap up the period crime saga. “I read the script and it’s epic. It’s so feckin’ epic.”
WHO: You’ve worked with so many incredible filmmakers – Christopher Nolan, Emerald Fennell, Yorgos Lanthimos and now Andrea Arnold via Bird. How do you feel when you hear that list?
KEOGHAN: When I hear that list, I’m like, “I want to do it again.” You know what I mean? You know the way certain filmmakers have relationships with people they’ve worked with and they constantly work with them again or whatever. I’m sort of hoping for that, but it hasn’t happened yet. But, yeah, I’m blessed, man.
Is it true films have been your training ground in acting?
I’ve learned so much. I was never trained or done anything like that, so my whole education about film, that came through film. I mean, educated in different ways as well, like I kind of grew up with it.
You’ve worked with a lot of female directors, most recently on Bird. Is female energy something you gravitate towards?
I do, you know. I was took into care, full-time care when I was 10 or 11. I need to get that age right, by the way, like my granny will be going, “No, it wasn’t that age.” But, I was took into care around that time. And my granny and my granny’s daughter – my auntie – and her daughter, so three really strong women, they all moved into the same bedroom to give up their room for me and my brother. So I was raised by those three women and I learned my disciplines and my principles and to lift the toilet seat up!
What was it like being raised by these three women?
Through that, you know this whole thing when people are like, “Be a man,” and all of that kind of stuff. I’m like, “What the fly is a man?” Because my granny was like a father-figure and a mother-figure for me – better than any man. So I learned my traits and my ways through her. And she’s tough as nails, man. I mean, she had 10 kids, like, you know what I mean? Feckin’ tough. So I do gravitate towards female filmmakers because I find myself, you know, the shoulders dropping a little and I’m allowed to be a bit more vulnerable. It’s not really a conscious thing. It’s just I find myself going to further places.
Is your granny still with us?
Yeah.
What does she make of your films? Has she seen Saltburn?
OK, listen. She’s seen it way before everyone – when I was a toddler (laughs). So it’s nothing new to her. I remember them watching Dunkirk on the TV – they didn’t go to the premiere. There’s a naivety and an innocence to it and a humbleness to it as well. You know, I’m still Barry. [It’s] still, you know, “Make your bed and say please and say thank you,” and all of these sorts of things I was taught.
Do the themes of Bird resonate with you in any way in regards to your own childhood?
Yeah, I used to play with bugs a lot (laughs). No, I didn’t, I hate spiders. But in terms of me and Bug, yeah, I mean I think we all see people in Bug and that’s why we relate. I see my uncle in him, I see everyone in him – this selfishness that’s no bad intention, it’s just wrapped up in your own, “What I want, what I need.” And there is an innocence to it. But, yeah, I definitely did see myself in him. I’ve seen a lot of myself in him. It was a learning curve and a therapeutic kind of process of going, “S–t, I’m a selfish f–king … I really am.” But that’s what I love, I love working with really strong filmmakers because you get to learn about yourself on so many levels and also elevate as an actor.
And nothing probably keeps you more honest than young co-stars?
Exactly. And yeah, being around Nykiya [Adams] and Jason [Buda], I was fascinated just observing them and why they made that choice or what got them to that level. And not to ask them, not to make them feel pressured, but I’m so interested in authenticity and choices from the gut because that’s where I started and that’s where I came from. And, if anything, I want to help protect that for them and nurture it and not let them go and make choices out of pressure or other reasons – and just kind of be there for them.
Bug has a lot of tattoos, it must have been a long process in the makeup chair.
You know, I’ve got ADHD. I don’t know if anyone knows. It’s all over the feckin’ internet. I move so much and I actually take medication for it, but to sit still for that long is really hard for anyone, but especially for someone with ADHD. So we had to break it up and it was, yeah, the hard thing was staying out of the sun because it was in the summer and then the sun catching the tattoos and then leaving sun marks around you. So even when you took the scorpion off, you’d have a scorpion on your face or like, the cross.
You’ve danced quite a bit in your films, including in Bird. Do you class yourself as a dancer?
No.
But the world loves when you dance! Ahem, Saltburn…
It’s crazy. That went everywhere. It really did. That will never leave me. It plays in my head 24/7. But yeah, in this one, the effort of dancing – I’ve said this before, but the effort of watching someone trying to dance or someone trying to sing is very attractive for me. I’m like rooting for them and I’m like just in awe of them. Not to say if you can sing, it’s not attractive. It’s very attractive if you can sing as well. Just want to say that (laughs). But if you can’t sing, it’s also very attractive if you’re trying to sing.
It’s no wonder you’re dating a singer. Speaking of which, we can’t let you go without talking about your appearance in the music video for your girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter’s song ‘Please Please Please’. Tell us about that…
Best thing I ever shot (laughs). Honestly. But no, that was the first time I was back on set in a while. And it was so nice to be on set again and just be a pro and everyone getting to see me work and you’re getting to see someone in their zone and vice versa. But I hadn’t been on a movie in a year. And it’s so great to have that creative process again. I feel like I’m in a place now where I can constructively go to certain places.
Can you tell us how you’ve managed that?
I’ve been doing a lot of therapy and working on myself and I’m really feeling confident.
And lastly, do you have any advice for people who come from a similar background to yours and want to get into acting?
I’ve got ADHD. I’m owning all these things. I’m working with it, and it’s like I get to show kids who look up [to me] and kids who are curious about getting into this industry or even anything that relates to it. And it gives them hope. I’d like to use a platform for that reason. For younger kids to have a bit of confidence and be optimistic and not let backgrounds or what they went through hold them back
