In a deeply heartrending new cover story, Barry Keoghan returned to his hometown and got candid about his grapples with substance use and the many family members he’s lost as a result of their own issues.
“I’m not in denial anymore. I understand that I do have an addiction, and I am an addict,” Keoghan, who was just cast in the Beatles biopic, told Hollywood Authentic in its May issue. “You know, when you accept that, you finally can move on, and learn to work with it.”
Though the Oscar-nominated actor wasn’t specific about his struggles with sobriety, nor the substances he’s used, Keoghan opened up about how much of his family has been impacted by drugs—specifically, heroin. Keoghan’s beloved grandmother, who appears in the spread, lost three of her 10 children to drugs. His mother, Debbie, was one of them.
“I remember being kids here and hearing my mum scream through the letterbox, asking for us, while she’s battling addiction, while she’s looking for money to score,” he told the outlet. “And we were just told to stay in bed. We weren’t to go down and hug her.”
Further, Keoghan’s father also died of a substance use disorder. They didn’t have much of a relationship prior.
“My father passed away as a result of similar and I lost my mum to it. I’ve lost two uncles and a cousin to drugs,” Keoghan explained. “That should be enough to go, ‘OK, if I dabble here, I’m fucked.’ But your curiosity is a powerful thing. Even my own son coming into this world didn’t stop me from being curious.”
Keoghan also noted the added “enormous amount of pressure” of being in the Hollywood scene and the temptation it presents. According to the publication, Keoghan showed multiple scars from injuries sustained while he was high.
“I’ve got scars here to literally prove it,” Keoghan said. “They’re a result of using. I’m at peace now, and responsible for everything that I do. I’m accepting. I’m present. I’m content. I’m a father. I’m getting to just see that haze that was once there–it’s just a bit sharper now, and colorful.”
It’s been quite the last year for Keoghan. In December, he deactivated his Instagram account and posted a lengthy statement on Twitter addressing his breakup with Carpenter and the allegations that he cheated. According to his statement, backlash was so severe that many fans showed up at his “grannies door” and sat outside his “baby boy’s house.”
“I can only sit and take so much,” Keoghan wrote at the time. “My name has been dragged across the internet in ways I usually don’t respond to. I have to respond now because it’s getting to a place where there are too many lines being crossed. I deactivated my account because I can no longer let this stuff distract from my family and my work. The messages I have received no person should ever have to read them. Absolute lies, hatred, disgusting commentary about my appearance, character, how I am as a parent and every other inhumane thing you can imagine. Dragging my character and everything I worked extremely hard for and stand for.”
Frankly, I’m rooting for Keoghan. I see a Colin Farrell arc in his future.
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