Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan survived heroin-scarred childhood & living in 13 homes to become Hollywood’s wildest new star

NO one can party quite like Barry Keoghan - either on or off screen - right now.

The 31-year-old Irish actor was spotted living it up with A-listers at the Golden Globe award ceremony on Sunday night and his naked dance at the end of the hit Saltburn movie was the most talked about scene of 2023.

Barry is earning a reputation for loving and leaving beautiful women and enjoying a drink or two.

But few could begrudge the Oscar-nominated actor living his life to the full, given how hard his childhood was.

For seven years from the age of five, Barry was moved around 13 foster homes with his brother Eric, due his single mum’s struggles with drugs.

Tragically, his mum died from a heroin overdose aged 30 when the actor was just 12 and he went to live with his grandmother Patricia, a mother-of-ten.

Brought up by his gran, aunt Lorraine and older sister Gemma in the Summerhill area of the Irish capital , Barry dreamed big.

He was determined to prove that people from his background could make it in Hollywood.

Barry said: "The textbook version with that is you go down the wrong road because you're damaged or whatever but that's not the case.

"I had people thinking that of me. People always judge people about the area they come from.

"I used to think, 'Wouldn't it be amazing if I ended it in Hollywood, given everything that's been dealt?'. 

“There was a fight and the commitment to try prove people wrong."

Breaking Hollywood

The actor has certainly done that.

Barry has starred in The Killing of the Sacred Deer alongside Nicole Kidman, the award-winning TV series Chernobyl, the superhero movie Eternals with Angelina Jolie and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk.

He’s been on the cover of GQ magazine, modelled Burberry and been a Dior ambassador.

Last year, he received a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role in the Banshees of Inisherin and won a Bafta for the part.

This year, Barry picked up a Golden Globe nomination for his incredible performance in Saltburn. He was pipped to the prize by fellow Irishman Cillian Murphy.

At the glittering awards ceremony he was photographed with Ryan Gosling and went to the after party at the notorious Chateau Marmont.

Against the odds

Barry has worked hard to get his name in lights after a tough start.

Growing up in foster homes, as his mum struggled with addiction, left him feeling rootless.

“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 the Late, Late Show. "I don't have a hometown, that's what I'm saying."

He lost his mum, Debbie, when she got caught up in Dublin’s drug scene.

He said: "Heroin came into Dublin, and it caught every family. My mother was one of the unlucky ones. She got caught on it, then she passed away.”

He has said that the loss of his mum spurred him on to achieve great things, leaving thinking: “What more can I lose? The only way is forward.”

Heroin came into Dublin, and it caught every family.

Barry Keoghan

Around that time, aged 12, he caught the acting bug while at O'Connell School in Dublin.

He said: "In first year, I did a play, My Babysitter Is An Alien. That was the first time I ever acted and I just loved the feeling of it.”

He spotted an ad for an acting role in a shop window, aged 17, and pestered the director for a chance to prove himself.

Barry said: "I was only 17 and I didn't really know what I was doing, but I got a feel for it and I found that I was very relaxed in front of the camera, which helps a lot."

His performance in that Irish crime drama, Between The Canals, caught the attention of casting directors, as did his role as a cat killer in the TV series Love/Hate.

The determined youngster then joined The Factory acting school in Dublin, even though he didn’t have enough money for the bus fare.

Tangled love life

At this weekend's Golden Globes, Barry had been expected to turn up with his rumoured girlfriend, American singer Sabrina Carpenter, but walked the red carpet alone.

He had been spotted out on a date with former Disney Channel star Sabrina, 24, in Los Angeles last month.

Their romance follows his break-up from Scottish dentist Alyson Kierans six months ago, reportedly over his party lifestyle.