Barry Keoghan feared his acting career was over before it started when his school punished the wannabe star by banning him from its stage.
The Dublin-born ‘Saltburn’ star, 30, whose tough upbringing saw him moved into foster care and his grandmum’s house as his mum battled drug addiction, said he was being a “little brat” at the time.
He added in an interview for the February issue of GQ magazine about misbehaving at school: “(I was acting out) not in a bad way – just being a little brat, basically, and not payin’ attention.
“Playin’ characters, drawin’ stuff on the walls, imitating teachers, being the class clown.”
GQ said at one point the school barred him from the stage for a while, with Barry saying about being banned: “I was like, Oh, that’s my acting career over.’ “And I really thought it was.”
Barry has seen his level of fame soar since he starred as scheming Oxford University student Oliver Quick in Emerald Fennell’s popular ‘Saltburn’ drama, and told GQ he would love to be toasting his fame with his late mum – killed by drug addiction when he was 12.
He added to the publication how he fills the “massive loneliness” he thinks comes with fame with thoughts of his mother Debbie: “When I’m isolated (what do I think of)?
“Obviously, my mother. My mother, always. 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?”
He also said about Debbie’s death: “She was in hospital. She was battlin’ a lot of stuff.”
