Barry Keoghan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Barry Keoghan
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Keoghan in 2024
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| Born | 18 October 1992 Dublin, Ireland
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Partner(s) | Alyson Kierans (2021–2023) |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | Frank Stapleton (second cousin) |
| Awards | Full list |
Barry Keoghan (/kiˈoʊɡən/ kee-OH-gən; born 18 October 1992) is an Irish actor. His accolades include a BAFTA Award, along with nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 27 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Keoghan began acting in 2011 and gained recognition in 2017 for his roles in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk and Yorgos Lanthimos's The Killing of a Sacred Deer. He gained praise for his performances in the Irish crime film Calm with Horses (2019) and in the fantasy film The Green Knight (2021). He expanded to big-budget films with his role as Druig in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals (2021). In 2022, he appeared in Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and received nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Keoghan then starred in the psychological drama Saltburn (2023), for which he gained nominations for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Actor.
He has appeared in television, including in the RTÉ drama Love/Hate (2013), the HBO mini-series Chernobyl (2019), the final season of the Netflix reboot Top Boy (2023), and in the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air (2024). Keoghan is a brand ambassador for Dior and Barretstown.
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Early life
Keoghan grew up in Summerhill, Dublin, Ireland. Alongside his brother Eric, he spent seven years in foster care, in 13 different foster homes.
Career
Keoghan began his acting career in 2011 when he answered a casting notice in a Sheriff Street shop window for the crime film Between the Canals. He portrayed Aido in a small role in the film, which was released in 2011. At the age of 18, he appeared in the Irish soap opera Fair City. In 2013 Keoghan appeared as Wayne on Love/Hate. The role earned Keoghan recognition in Ireland, and he went on to feature in '71 in 2014 and Mammal and Trespass Against Us in 2016.
Keoghan appeared in two films in 2017. He featured as George Mills in Dunkirk and starred as Martin Lang in The Killing of a Sacred Deer alongside Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. He won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The following year, he appeared in Black '47 as Hobson, an English soldier stationed in Ireland during the Great Famine. He also starred in American Animals the same year. He portrayed Spencer Reinhart in the film, based on a real-life theft of rare books from a university library.
He appeared in the 2019 mini-series Chernobyl. He starred in an episode of Living With Lucy in September 2019. That same month, his work in Calm With Horses was shown in the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. In July 2018, Keoghan was cast as lead character Yorick Brown in the pilot of Y: The Last Man. He left the main series production in February 2020. Keoghan played Druig in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals in November 2021. He appeared in The Green Knight.
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Keoghan appeared in Matt Reeves's film The Batman (2022), credited as "Unseen Arkham Prisoner". Reeves later confirmed that Keoghan was the Joker. On 24 March 2022, three weeks after the film's release, Warner Bros. released a deleted scene featuring Keoghan's Joker and Robert Pattinson's Batman. Keoghan received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination, and won BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the 2022 film The Banshees of Inisherin, written and directed by Martin McDonagh.
In 2023, Keoghan appeared in Emerald Fennell's psychological thriller Saltburn as Oliver Quick, the lead character, alongside Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Alison Oliver, Richard E. Grant, and Carey Mulligan. Keoghan received critical acclaim for his performance, and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor.
In 2024, Keoghan was cast as Ringo Starr in a series of four interconnected but separate biopics about the Beatles from filmmaker Sam Mendes. Starr himself confirmed the casting.
In the media
In 2018 The Hollywood Reporter described Keoghan as "the next big thing" for his film work in the previous three years. In 2019 he was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.
In March 2022, Keoghan was announced as the new ambassador for the Barretstown children's charity. He helped open the charity's new Aladina Studio funded by the Spanish Aladina Foundation. In March 2024, British luxury fashion house Burberry named Keoghan as its brand ambassador.
Personal life
Keoghan is an amateur boxer. Keoghan is a supporter of Manchester United and appeared in the club's promotional campaign for the 2024–25 season kit with his second cousin Frank Stapleton.
From 2017 to 2020, Keoghan was in a relationship with Killarney native Shona Guerin, whom he had met on Good Friday in a Killarney pub where she was working. The pair appeared on Livin' with Lucy together in 2019 in which Lucy Kennedy stayed with them in their Los Angeles home. In September 2021, Keoghan began dating Alyson Kierans, a dental nurse and orthodontic therapist. In March 2022, he disclosed that the couple were expecting a child together. The birth of their son was announced in August 2022. The family moved to Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland, in November 2022. Keoghan said in a 2024 interview that he and Kierans had split in mid-2023. Since late 2023, Keoghan has been in an "on-and-off" relationship with American singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter. As of early December 2024, the two have reportedly separated.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Stand Up | Stand up Bully | Short film | |
| Between the Canals | Aido | |||
| 2012 | Stalker | Tommy | ||
| King of the Travellers | Young Dublin Lad | |||
| 2013 | Wasted | Ben | Short film | |
| Life's a Breeze | Pizza Guy | |||
| Stay | Sean Meehan | |||
| 2014 | '71 | Sean Bannon | ||
| Standby | Crusty | |||
| North | Aaron | Short film | ||
| 2015 | Norfolk | Boy | ||
| Traders | Ken | |||
| The Break | Sean | Short film | ||
| 2016 | Mammal | Joe | ||
| Trespass Against Us | Windows | |||
| Candy Floss | Shane | Short film | ||
| 2017 | Light Thereafter | Pavel | ||
| The Killing of a Sacred Deer | Martin Lang | |||
| Dunkirk | George Mills | |||
| 2018 | American Animals | Spencer Reinhard | ||
| Black '47 | Hobson | |||
| 2019 | Calm With Horses | Dymphna | ||
| 2021 | The Green Knight | Scavenger | ||
| Eternals | Druig | |||
| 2022 | The Batman | Unseen Arkham Prisoner | Cameo | |
| The Banshees of Inisherin | Dominic Kearney | |||
| 2023 | Saltburn | Oliver Quick | ||
| 2024 | Bird | Bug | ||
| Bring Them Down | Jack | |||
| 2025 | Hurry Up Tomorrow  |
TBA | Post-production | |
| TBA | The Immortal Man |
TBA | Filming | |
| Crime 101 |
TBA | Filming |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Fair City | Dave Donoghue | 3 episodes | |
| 2013 | Jack Taylor: Priest | Hoodie 1 | Television film | |
| Love/Hate | Wayne | 6 episodes | ||
| 2016 | Rebellion | Cormac McDevitt | 4 episodes | |
| 2019 | Chernobyl | Pavel | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| 2023 | Top Boy | Jonny | 3 episodes | |
| 2024 | Masters of the Air | Lt. Curtis Biddick | Miniseries; 3 episodes |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | "Please Please Please" | Sabrina Carpenter |
| "Bug" | Fontaines D.C. |
Accolades
Keoghan has received various accolades, including a BAFTA Film Award and nominations for an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards.
See also
- List of Irish Academy Award winners and nominees
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
