Barry Keoghan will play a struggling single father in his new film Bird, and his own journey as a parent significantly impacted this role. The Oscar-nominated actor opened up about his father-son relationship with his own child in a recent interview and explained how his upbringing impacted his outlook on fatherhood.
Before becoming a successful actor, Keoghan had a pretty rocky childhood in Dublin. He spent seven years in the foster care system, changing 13 homes, after growing up without a father and losing his mother at the age of 12, before his aunt and grandmother were able to take him in.
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Keoghan revealed that being a father informed a role in his new film Bird, while also admitting that growing up without a father figure impacted his journey as a parent.
“Even my relationship with my son isn’t quite of the normal father-son relationship because I don’t have that figure to draw from and to base it on. 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 stuff like teaching your son this or teaching your daughter that,” he explained.
Keoghan shares his two-year-old Brando with his ex Alyson Kierans, but they split up about a year after he was born in August 2022.