Barry Keoghan Opens Up About Why He Doesn’t Have A 'Normal' Relationship With His Son

17 September 2024, 17:05 | Updated: 17 September 2024, 17:25

Barry Keoghan opens up about his relationship with his son and how it inspired upcoming movie. Picture: Santiago Felipe/Getty Images, @keoghan92 via Instagram

By Katie Louise Smith

Barry is father to two-year-old son Brando and is set to play a father to a 12-year-old in upcoming film Bird.

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Barry Keoghan has opened up about his relationship with his two-year-old son, and shared how his own childhood had an impact on his upcoming role in Bird.

In case you didn't know, Barry is a dad! Barry's son Brando was born in August 2022, and he reportedly split up with Brando's mother, his then-girlfriend Alyson Sandro, in mid-2023. Now, he is of course dating Sabrina Carpenter.

The Saltburn actor has shared a handful of photos of baby Brando on Instagram in the past, and recently posted an adorable pic of the two of them together alongside the caption: "He’s more of a charmer than I am. Our wee Brando."

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Barry spoke about his role in Bird where he plays a single father named Bug, and shared that his interpretation of the role was inspired by his own real-life experience.

Read more: Barry Keoghan Reveals How You Actually Pronounce His Name
Read more: Barry Keoghan Says Saltburn Stopped People From Calling Him "Weird-Looking"

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Speaking about how he drew from his own childhood and his experience as a father now, Barry said: "I’ll just say this – I didn’t have a father figure growing up, so even my relationship with my son isn’t quite of the normal father-son relationship because I don’t have that figure to draw experience from and to base it on."

Elaborating on his comments, Barry then clarified: "Love, you don’t need anything to draw from. Love is pure, and so I’m not on about that, but I’m on about little stuff like teaching your son this or teaching your daughter that."

He then explained that his on-screen daughter, played by Nykiya Adams, is ten years older than his actual son, so there where moments where he found it difficult to tap into that father-figure role, adding that he "didn’t have that [normal experience]" as a kid himself.

"For me, the experience of playing a father was – obviously I’m a father, but at that age, she’s 12 in the movie, and it’s like, what do I base it on?” he added.

Instead, he felt the "brother-sister kind of chemistry" between Bug and Bailey was right for the project.

Barry Keoghan plays Nykiya Adams' father in Bird. Picture: Alamy

Brando was born while Barry was filming Saltburn, and he only got one day off to spend with the newborn. In an interview with GQ, he laughed: "They gave me a day off. Good on them! Day off, and straight on to night shoots and night feedings – boom!"

"It was probably the best time of my life, to be quite fair. Havin’ a baby boy, and leadin’ a movie. It was the best time of my life, I must say – yeah," he added. Speaking about Alyson, he shared: "She's done a great job and she's an incredible mother."

Sharing how much his son inspires him, he said: "I feel a responsibility, I feel an enormous amount of pressure, which is good. And I can't get the little boy off my mind. It's beautiful Y'know, it's crazy, but when he looks at you, you feel like the most important person in the world.

"That's the effect he has on me. He smiles at you and you're like, 'Wow. You're smiling at me like that? I don't deserve that, but anyways, thanks.'"