Barry Keoghan opens up about hiding away from the world due to relentless online abuse

Barry Keoghan is one of the most beloved talents working in Hollywood today. He is known as a young Irish actor who has quietly worked his way up from a difficult childhood to become one of the most talked-about names in the industry. The 'Saltburn' star has an Oscar nomination already under his belt and a string of critically acclaimed performances behind him, and it would be easy to assume that life is nothing but good right now. But behind the rising career, the prestigious projects, and the critical acclaim lies a struggle that Keoghan is no longer willing to stay quiet about.On 'The Morning Mash Up', Barry Keoghan revealed, "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, you know, everyone goes through that, but it's made me shy away. It's made me really go inside myself, not want to attend places, not want to go outside." He did not stop there either, adding with complete sincerity, he mentioned, "I say this being absolute pure and honest to you. It's becoming a problem."Keoghan, who stepped away from Instagram in 2024, admitted that despite removing himself from social media, he finds himself drifting back online out of sheer curiosity. "I'm still a curious human being that wants to go on the internet," he said. "And if I attend an event or if I go somewhere, you want to see how it's received. And it's not nice, you know?" When asked about carving out space for his own privacy, he was blunt, "I don't have to hide away 'cause I am hiding away. I actually don't go to places because of these things."What clearly worries Keoghan the most is the idea of this negativity finding its way into the one place that has always been his safe space, his craft. "When that starts leaking into your art, it becomes a problem," he said, "because then you don't want to even be on screen anymore." For an actor of his calibre, those words carry a weight that is difficult to ignore.The pain is not only personal, either. Keoghan welcomed his son Brando with former girlfriend Alyson Sandro in 2022, and the thought of his little boy one day reading all of this is something that genuinely saddens him. "It is disappointing for the fans," he said, "but it's also disappointing that my little boy has to read all of this stuff when he gets older." Despite everything, though, Keoghan was careful to acknowledge the other side of fame too. "I've been blessed that I've got an incredible fan base, and people are so lovely out there," he said. "It's really nice when you do Q&As and you talk to people and you can be there with them and answer their questions and give them all of you. And that is the good side of it."His latest work includes the much-anticipated 'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man' and 'Crime 101' alongside Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Halle Berry. According to Entertainment Weekly, he is also currently filming four Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes, where he will portray Ringo Starr alongside Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, with all four films set to release in April 2028.