Barry Keoghan Says Birth of Son Brando, 2, Made Him Realize How ‘Hard’ It Was for His Own Mom, Who Died When He Was 12

For Barry Keoghan, becoming a parent helped him understand his own.

In a new video for the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Irish actor, 32, discussed the state of children's social care, drawing on his experience growing up in the foster care system — and, more recently, his experience as a dad to 2-year-old son, Brando.

After U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy pointed out that, coupled with his mother's death, his time in the system must have “weighed very heavily” on him, the actor admitted that “it does.” Keoghan had lived in 13 different foster homes before moving in with his grandmother.

“As I’ve got older and I’ve had my own son,” he said. “I realized that it was such hard work for her and, you know, her and my father. And luckily there was a good care system there, which is massively important.”

Related: Barry Keoghan Opens Up About How Being a Dad to Son Brando, 2, Influenced His Role in Bird: 'Love Is Pure'

Keoghan, who shares Brando with ex-girlfriend Alyson Sandro, went on to tell the British politician that he wants to work with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to “change” the state of children’s social care because “you can use your profile and your platform to shine a light on things.”

“Anything to do with kids and care, I’m always wanting to help,” Keoghan continued. “And shine a light on it, and get attention to it.”

The Oscar-nominated actor has previously opened up about his childhood, including his mom Debbie, who struggled with addiction and died when he was 12.

Related: Barry Keoghan Opens Up About His Mother Who Died of an Overdose: 'She Was Battlin' a Lot of Stuff'

Speaking with GQ in January 2024, the Saltburn star said he still feels "a massive loneliness" despite the fame and success he’s experienced since becoming an actor. When asked what he thinks about during these stretches of loneliness, Keoghan said, “When I’m isolated? Obviously, my mother.”

"My mother, always,” he continued. “She’s many years passed now, but I always think about her anyway. It’s always just in and around achievements that it’s really prominent — ’cause you’d like to celebrate that wit’ ’er, y’know?”

The GQ article also noted Debbie "wasn't really in his life" before she died, with Keoghan saying, “She was battlin’ a lot of stuff.”

The Dublin native also told the magazine that he does not feel his story is unique among those who grow up in the Irish city. “Dublin 1, we call it — the postcode is 1. It’s proper inner city. It’s the heart, man," he said at the time. "And y’know, every inner city has its problems and faces its battles. Everyone’s kind of going through the same stuff there.”

When it comes to fatherhood, Keoghan occasionally shares a rare tidbit about being a dad to Brando, whom he welcomed with Sandro in August 2022.

Besides the occasional milestone (like the toddler’s first words) and lookalike selfie with the 2-year-old, the actor has also shared a bit about his life as a father — including responding to accusations that he's a “deadbeat dad” in late 2024.

While appearing on The Louis Theroux Podcast, he explained that he is “not an absent father,” which he said he was accused of when he began posting photos of Brando less online.

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“People love to use my son as ammunition or whatever, and it kind of leads me to stop [posting him]. The more attention I’ve gotten lately and the more in the public I’ve become, the less I’ve posted about my child, because I don’t think it’s fair to put my child online," he said at the time.

“Because I reigned that in, people draw a narrative and go, ‘Absent father, s---, deadbeat dad,’ and more disgusting things I wouldn’t even repeat,” he continued. “Just the audacity of some people, man, it sickens me. It makes me furious.”

“I ain't going to feed them more material,” he added, noting that “they don't deserve that.”

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