Barry Keoghan has proven that he's the embodiment of sticking it through, whether it comes to his career and difficult upbringing, or a bout of necrotizing fasciitis.
The 31-year-old actor, who is currently on the promotional circuit for his movie Saltburn, sat down with GQ to discuss life and career in the fast lane, and opened up about a health battle that almost left him without an arm.
He revealed that a few years ago, he'd developed a case of necrotizing fasciitis, which the Center for Disease Control describes as "a rare bacterial infection that spreads quickly in the body and can cause death."
The Irish actor revealed that the disease, which can prove fatal for one in five cases, left him in the hospital days before he was set to begin shooting for the 2022 film The Banshees of Inisherin.
He recalled that amputation, for a while, was a prospect, and remembered asking his doctor: "But I'm not gonna die, right?" and hearing in response: "Well, we don't know."
Banshees director and writer Martin McDonagh spoke to the publication about visiting Barry at the hospital four days before filming was scheduled to take place.
"I'm not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off," he shared. "We were only about four days out from shooting, and his arm was puffed up. But he was like, 'Yeah, no, I'm going to be fine – I'll see you on Tuesday.'
"I went to the hospital thinking, [expletive] – 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."
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Barry remembered the director telling him "just remember this when you've been nominated for an Oscar" with the heart monitor beeping in the background. He eventually made a full recovery and even kept his arm.
What's more, The Banshees of Inisherin, also starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Kerry Condon, was one of the year's biggest critical darlings and an awards season favorite. Barry received rave reviews for his supporting turn and won a BAFTA Award for his troubles. Plus, he got that Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor (losing to Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All At Once).
Barry is touted as a potential Best Actor nominee this year for his leading role in the psychological divisive black comedy Saltburn, co-starring Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike. In fact, he was nominated for a Golden Globe at Sunday night's ceremony, losing to Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers.
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Director and writer Emerald Fennell told GQ about the drastic turns the film takes (it could scar you if you're weak, let's just say that) and how the father-of-one was game to play ball. Watch the film's trailer below...
"Both of us are really interested in pushing things really far," she said. "Not in a way that's just supposed to be deliberately shocking, but because especially if you're talking about desire, if you're talking about obsession, you need to get somewhere that feels really hard to watch, because that's what it feels like.
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"So I think for both of us, the whole time, it was about the understanding between us, and pushing each other always to do something more interesting, more surprising."
The February issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on January 30th
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