Barry Keoghan (/ˈkjoʊɡən/ KYOH-gən;[1] born 18 October 1992) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles on stage and screen, appearing in independent films and blockbuster films. In 2020, he was listed at number 27 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.[2]
Barry Keoghan | |
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Born | (1992-10-18) 18 October 1992 (age 30) Summerhill, Dublin, Ireland |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2011–present |
Partner | Alyson Kierans |
Children | 1 |
His early film roles include '71 (2014), Mammal (2016), and Trespass Against Us (2016). He received acclaim in 2017 for his roles in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017), and Yorgos Lanthimos's The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), receiving a Independent Spirit Award nomination for the latter. He continued acting in American Animals (2018), Calm with Horses (2019), receiving a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination, and The Green Knight (2021). In 2021, he appeared as Druig in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Eternals. In 2022 he appeared in Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inisherin.
He's also known for his television roles including the RTÉ drama Love/Hate (2013) and the HBO limited series Chernobyl (2019). Keoghan is an ambassador for Dior[3] and Barretstown.[4]
Keoghan grew up in Summerhill, Dublin, Ireland.[5] Alongside his brother Eric, he spent seven years in foster care, in 13 different foster homes.[6]
As a child, Keoghan appeared in school plays in the O'Connell School on Dublin's North Richmond Street,[7] but was banned for "messing about".[8] He cites he got his film education from sneaking into films with pals at Cineworld, Parnell Street, from which he eventually got barred.[7] He started his acting career in 2011.[9][10] He answered an advertisement for Between the Canals after seeing a casting notice in a Sheriff Street shop window,[7] and portrayed Aido in a small role in the film, which was released in 2011.[5] He then studied acting at The Factory, a local Dublin school.[5] He remembers "not even having €2.20 to get the bus to The Factory" at the time.[7] The same year, at the age of 18, he appeared in Fair City.[8]
In 2013, Keoghan appeared as Wayne on Love/Hate.[11][12] 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.[13][14]
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.[15][8] He won the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Killing of a Sacred Deer.[16] The following year, he appeared in Black '47 as Hobson, an English soldier stationed in Ireland during the Great Famine.[8] He also starred in American Animals the same year. He portrayed Spencer Reinhart in the film, based on a real-life robbery of rare books from a university library.[8] In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter described Keoghan as "the next big thing" for his film work in the previous three years,[8] and in 2019 he was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.[17]
He appears in the 2019 mini-series Chernobyl.[12] He starred in an episode of Living With Lucy in September 2019.[18] That same month, Calm With Horses premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.[19] In July 2018, Keoghan was cast as lead character Yorick Brown in the pilot of Y: The Last Man,[11][20] but exited the main series production in February 2020.[21] Keoghan played Druig in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals in November 2021.[22] He also appeared in The Green Knight.[23]
Keoghan appeared in Matt Reeves' film The Batman (2022) credited as "Unseen Arkham Prisoner", though Reeves himself later confirmed that Keoghan was the Joker.[24][25] On March 24, 2022, three weeks after the film's release, Warner Bros. released a deleted scene featuring Keoghan's Joker and Robert Pattinson's Batman.[26]
Keoghan is an amateur boxer.[27]
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 in which she was working.[28][29] The pair appeared on Livin' with Lucy together in 2019 in which Lucy Kennedy stayed with them in their Los Angeles home.[28] In August 2020 it was speculated that they had broken up[28] which was confirmed in September 2021 when Keoghan shared a picture on Instagram of himself with new girlfriend Alyson Kierans (a dentist whose father is from County Cavan)[7] at Powerscourt Hotel, Co. Wicklow.[29] A few months later, on Ireland's Mother's Day, 27 March 2022, he announced through Instagram that the couple were expecting a child together.[30] The birth of their son, Brando, was announced on Keoghan’s Instagram on 8 August 2022.[31]
In March 2022, Keoghan was announced as the new ambassador for the Barretstown children’s charity, and helped open the charity’s new Aladina Studio funded by the Spanish Aladina Foundation.[4]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Stand Up | Stand up Bully | Short | |
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 | [9] | |
Standby | Crusty | |||
North | Aaron | Short | ||
2015 | Norfolk | Boy | [32][33] | |
Traders | Ken | |||
The Break | Sean | Short | ||
2016 | Mammal | Joe | [34][35] | |
Trespass Against Us | Windows | [36][37] | ||
Candy Floss | Shane | Short film | [38] | |
2017 | Light Thereafter | Pavel | [39] | |
The Killing of a Sacred Deer | Martin Lang | [34] | ||
Dunkirk | George Mills | [34] | ||
2018 | American Animals | Spencer Reinhard | [40] | |
Black '47 | Hobson | [41] | ||
2019 | Calm With Horses | Dymphna | [19] | |
2021 | The Green Knight | Scavenger | [23] | |
Eternals | Druig | [42] | ||
2022 | The Batman | The Joker | Credited as Unseen Arkham Prisoner | [43] |
The Banshees of Inisherin | Dominic Kearney | [44] | ||
TBA | Saltburn | Filming | [45][46] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Fair City | Dave Donoghue | 3 episodes[9] |
2013 | Jack Taylor: Priest | Hoodie 1 | TV movie |
2013 | Love/Hate | Wayne | 6 episodes[9] |
2016 | Rebellion | Cormac McDevitt | 4 episodes[9] |
2019 | Chernobyl | Pavel | 2 episodes[47] |
2019 | Livin' with Lucy | Himself | 1 episode[18] |
2023 | Top Boy | Jonny | Netflix[48] |
TBA | Masters of the Air | Lt. Curtis Biddick | Upcoming miniseries |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Lead Role – Film | Mammal | Nominated | [9] |
2017 | Dublin Film Critics' Circle | Breakthrough Artist of the Year | The Killing of a Sacred Deer | Won | [49] |
2017 | Florida Film Critics Circle | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | ||
FCC Breakout Award | Nominated | ||||
2017 | San Diego Film Critics Society | Breakthrough Artist | Nominated | ||
2018 | British Independent Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | American Animals | Nominated | |
2018 | Central Ohio Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actor | The Killing of a Sacred Deer | Nominated | |
2018 | Chlotrudis Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Won | ||
2018 | Evening Standard British Film Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated | [50] | |
2018 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Male | Nominated | [51] | |
2018 | Irish Film and Television Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Film | Won | [16] | |
2019 | British Academy Film Awards | Rising Star Award | Nominated | [17] | |
2021 | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Calm with Horses | Nominated | [52] |
the director was quick to explain that not only was that not his intention, he is in no way convinced that Keoghan’s Joker will appear in any more
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