Highlights
- Barry Keoghan nearly lost his arm to a flesh-eating disease, but he shrugged off the ordeal and continued filming The Banshees of Inisherin, the movie he starred in before Saltburn.
- The disease can often be lethal if left untreated and requires surgery or antibiotics.
- Saltburn changed Barry Keoghan’s life in more than one way, as he became a father during filming, which had a significant impact on his personal life and work.
Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan nearly lost his arm to a rare life-threatening flesh-eating disease in October 2022. The Irish actor was hospitalized with necrotizing fasciitis just days before filming began on The Banshees of Inisherin (the movie he starred in right before Saltburn) as the film’s director, Martin McDonagh, recently revealed to GQ. Keoghan’s international breakthrough role led to him being cast in Saltburn as Oliver Quick.
Barry Keoghan still has a snake-like scar on his arm from the dangerous disease, which can be lethal. The director reveals that amputation was considered, but the actor seemed to shrug the whole ordeal off.
“I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off,” McDonagh told GQ. “We were only about four days out from shooting, and his arm was puffed up.”
Despite his illness, the actor was still keen to continue making the movie. “But he was like, ‘Yeah, no, I’m going to be fine — I’ll see you on Tuesday.’ I went to the hospital thinking, ‘S*** is he going to die?’ Let alone, ‘Is he going to make the movie?’ But I came out of there energized and looking forward to it.”
Barry Keoghan’s Battle With A Flesh Eating Disease
Barry Keoghan was diagnosed with a rare flesh-eating disease just before filming began on his breakthrough film role in The Banshees of Inisherin. He appeared in the comedy-drama alongside Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell.
The Eternals star revealed he nearly lost his arm to the disease. While he recalled asking doctors if he was going to die, they told him. “Well, we don’t know.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the bacterial infection Keoghan suffered from spreads rapidly and is deadly if left untreated with surgery or antibiotics. One in five cases of the illness is fatal.
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Keoghan recalled, to GQ, lying in a hospital bed with his heart monitor beeping and The Banshees of Inisherin writer-director Martin McDonagh telling him: “Just remember this when you’ve been nominated for an Oscar.” He went on to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his The Banshees of Inisherin role, which he ultimately lost the Oscar to Everything Everywhere All At Once star Ke Huy Quan. Keoghan won a BAFTA that same year for best-supporting actor.
Barry Keoghan Became A Father During Filming Saltburn
Luckily, Barry Keoghan’s health soon bounced back. Keoghan became a father during shooting Saltburn. “They gave me a day off,” he laughs. “Good on them! Day off, and straight on to night shoots and night feedings – boom!” Keoghan’s then-girlfriend, Alyson Sandro, gave birth to their son, Brando, in August 2022.
“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.”
Barry Keoghan and Alyson Sandro split 15 months after the birth of his child, but he still calls her an “incredible mother”. Keoghan is now rumored to be dating singer Sabrina Carpenter.
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The Masters of the Air star has said that becoming a father during the making of the controversial movie has not changed him, but it does affect how much he works away from home and the jobs he takes on. “I feel a responsibility. I feel an enormous amount of pressure, which is good,” the 31-year-old admitted.
“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.’”
Barry also told GQ that becoming a father during the filming of Saltburn meant he couldn’t spend much time with his co-stars away from filming.
“They were staying elsewhere, while I was staying here,” he explained. “I was making hot milk and changing nappies, and they were at this hotel, hanging out a lot. So I kind of felt left out.” He admitted that helped him get into character better. In Saltburn, he plays a seemingly lower-class student who envies the lavish lifestyle of his wealthier classmates and friends.
Saltburn’s Most Shocking Scene Was Improvised
Saltburn has been one of the most talked about movies in recent years. Over the holiday period, everyone was talking about Saltburn and its many shocking and erotic scenes.
Set in 2006, the “beautifully wicked tale” follows Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a lower-class Oxford University student who finds himself drawn to the charming upper-class Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi).
However, one of the many moments of Saltburn that has shocked viewers was improvised by Barry Keoghan. The scene Keoghan’s Saltburn character, Oliver, unusually grieves at his friend’s graveside is entirely improvised by the Irish star.
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The scene in the script was much shorter than the final version, but Barry kept on performing in character. In the Emerald Fennell script, Oliver merely fingers the grave rather than unzipping his pants and behaving explicitly. “I wanted to see what Oliver would do next. I wanted to see what the next level of obsession was. And by that [I mean], I just wanted the camera to roll,” he explained.
Writer/director Emerald Fennell explained what happened further. “I spoke to Barry in the morning, and I just said, ‘I don’t know, Barry. I think that he would… unzip,’” she explained. “And Barry just said, ‘Yup.’”
Barry says the Saltburn graveside scene was much more about the act and more about the character’s emotions. “It was more about I don’t know what to do with this obsession; it’s making me confused and making me unhuman in a way. It was a total discovery for him, I think. And it was sad. It was very, very sad.”
Source: NewsFinale
