Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan has revealed that persistent online abuse about his appearance is taking a severe toll on his mental health and career, leaving him reluctant to leave his home or appear on screen.
In an interview with SiriusXM host Ben Harlum, the Irish actor said the hate has become so overwhelming that he is “shying away” from public events and even considering stepping back from acting. “It’s made me shy away. It’s made me really go inside myself, not want to attend places, not want to go outside,” Keoghan said.
Keoghan, who left social media in 2024 due to abuse, admitted he still checks how events are received online. “There’s a lot of hate online. There’s a lot of abuse of how I look, and it’s kind of past the point of, ‘Everyone goes through that,’” he said. “When that starts leaking into your art, it becomes a problem, because then you don’t want to even be on screen any more.”
The actor, who has been open about his difficult childhood and his mother’s death, also expressed concern for his three-year-old son Brando. “It’s also disappointing that my little boy has to read all of this stuff when he gets older,” he said.
Keoghan is currently filming roles in Netflix’s Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man and Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles tetralogy, where he will play Ringo Starr.
