Barry Keoghan, the Irish heartthrob from Saltburn (aka the movie where you didn’t blink for two hours because what was even happening?!) is getting realer than a group chat at 2 a.m. In a new interview with Hollywood Authentic, Barry opened up about his battle with addiction—and it’s no Netflix drama, it’s his real life.
Let’s rewind to Baby Barry at age 12: his mom passed away due to heroin addiction. Instead of growing up and becoming a jazz-loving, mineral-water-drinking minimalist (you know, like the Instagram influencers want us to), Barry found himself… kinda curious about the very thing that tore his family apart.
“I’m not in denial anymore,” he said. “I get it. I’m an addict. I’ve got the punch card and everything.” Okay, he didn’t say the punch card part, but vibes.
And it wasn’t just his mom—his dad, two uncles, and a cousin also struggled with drugs. Most people would see that tragic family résumé and run the other way, but Barry? “Curiosity is powerful,” he said. Bro, same. That’s how we all ended up downloading BeReal.
Now you’d think becoming a dad would slam the brakes on any chaos, right? Like, tiny baby = clean slate? Nah. Barry welcomed his son Brando in 2022 (coolest baby name since X Æ A-12), but the curiosity didn’t quit.
“Even my own son didn’t stop me from being curious,” Barry said. Which… not great, but brutally honest. He moved to Hollywood and discovered what we all know to be true: LA is basically a playground for beautiful chaos with kombucha bars.
“There’s pressure, there’s a scene,” he said. “And sometimes you are the one who ends up in the scene. Not just standing around awkwardly at the party eating chips, but like… in it.”
He shared some painfully raw memories, too—like being kept away from his mom while she was struggling, hearing her voice through the letterbox (yep, that’s British for mailbox). “We were told to stay in bed,” he said. And suddenly every teen angst phase we’ve had feels like a Disney Channel subplot.
Barry also dropped the mic on some personal battle scars: literal ones. “I’ve got scars on my arms to prove it,” he said. “But now? I’m at peace. I’m responsible. I’m a father. The haze is lifting—and things are finally starting to look sharp and colorful.”
Which is the most poetic way anyone’s ever said, “I’m healing,” and we love that for him.
So why talk about this publicly now? Barry said he wants people to really understand where he comes from. “There’s a lot weighing on this,” he said. And honestly? It shows. Not just in his acting (Oscar-nominated, NBD), but in how he’s trying to turn the mess into a message.
TL;DR: Barry Keoghan has lived through hell, danced with temptation, and somehow came out the other side with a baby named Brando and a comeback arc that could win an Emmy. He’s not perfect, but he’s real—and in a world of filters and facades, that’s the most iconic thing of all.
