Barry Keoghan details late mother’s heartbreaking heroin addiction before he went into foster care

Barry Keoghan has opened up about the difficulties of his childhood and family tragedies in a deep new interview for the latest episode of the Louis Theroux Podcast

Barry Keoghan has reflected on his difficult childhood which saw him living in care after his mother became addicted to heroin.

The 32-year-old Irish actor has been an open book about his difficult past and how he has used his struggles to help him build his career as an Oscar-nominated star. He has gone over his past once again while sitting with acclaimed journalist Louis Theroux for his self titled podcast.

Barry, who grew up in the Summerhill area of Dublin, was left devastated when his mother passed away when he was just 12-years-old after she battled her drug addiction. He then spent seven years in foster care, moving between 13 different homes, before being raised by his grandmother, aunt, and older sister Gemma.

Discussing his upbringing on to The Louis Theroux Podcast, Barry was asked by the host: "To what extent do you feel your mum was a victim of the area being flooded with heroin?" The Banshees of Inisherin actor replied: "My mum, she was lovely. She was gorgeous, almost like six-foot, dark hair, just beautiful. Like every lad was chasing her and this thing caught her, like many families."

He continued: "It's sad to see the deterioration of people around the area and see people kind of struggle with it and the recovery they're in now. It caught my mum, it caught my uncle who died of it and caught my father as well. She was just unable to look after us... My father wasn't there and so we got taken into care and no one knew about this. I think she was too embarrassed to tell my granny and so no one knew that's when we went through all that. All the different homes."

Admitting the past still affects him, Barry went on: "That kind of haunts me still, you don't forget those things. You don't forget waiting on the social worker steps and waiting for the new family to come and play with you in the playground they have in the office and see if it's going to work and then go with them to a whole new area and a whole new home... And you know, the car journeys there and they're the things that haunt and I don't blame her. It's a sickness."

The actor went on to explain that he has utilised his pain to bring a sense of authenticity to his roles - which include psycopathic Oliver Quick in Saltburn and selfless hero Druig in Marvel's Eternals. He explained: "The method I use is, I try to recreate and I try to bring real emotion to it. I'm feeling and thinking of things in the past and bring it to the surface and use it and it can scare you in a way, but you can also feel like a little bit of a sell out."

He went on to reveal: "I do therapy and I've got a good way of managing stuff now in a really nice way. I can vent a lot and get a lot of closure but often the times you're left with a lot of stuff ... But I like to get that kind of therapeutic experience in a way from it. It's a weird thing. I want to have something to draw from. So I don't want to go back and have closure on everything."

The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify now.

*Frank offers confidential advice about drugs and addiction (email frank@talktofrank.com, message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600) or the NHS has information about getting help.

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