Barry Keoghan’s Path To Fame: From Foster Homes To Golden Globe Nominee

If you haven’t seen “Saltburn” (spoiler alert) Barry Keoghan’s character, Oliver, fabricates a lie about growing up in a broken home. To fans, they might not know that was actually the case for the actor as a child. 

In 2018, The “Eternals” star opened up about growing up in the foster care system due to his mother’s battle with drug addiction during an appearance on Ireland’s “The Late Late Show.” At the time, he revealed he lived in 13 different foster homes.

“Every family was good to us. As a kid, you don’t know what’s happening. You get attached – and then boom – ‘Let’s move over here,’” he told Ireland’s “The Late Late Show” and noted that he remained with his biological brother throughout his time living with various families. 

At the age of 10, after moving from home to home, Barry started living with his maternal grandmother. Two years later, his mother passed away.

“It wasn’t a ‘sudden death’ kind of shock,” he recalled to British GQ back in 2022.

Around the time of his mother’s death, Barry began to take an interest in film.

“I was expressing. Doing impressions, putting on accents for prank calls, going to the shops and becoming different characters each time,” he explained to the publication.

Fast forward to when Barry was 16, he landed his first role in the 2011 crime drama, “Between the Canals,” after seeing an open casting call in a window shop.

The film’s director, Mark O’Connor, revealed to British GQ that Barry called him “every few weeks until I eventually cast him.”

Over the years, Barry went on to snag roles in “Dunkirk,” “The Green Knight,” “Eternals,” and “The Banshees of Inisherin,” which landed him with an Oscar nomination in 2023.

Now, he’s back in the award season game with a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn.”