Barry Keoghan’s filmography traces a remarkable path from gritty Irish independents to Oscar-nominated performances and major franchise roles. This comprehensive guide covers his breakthrough in Dunkirk and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, his acclaimed work in The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn, and his upcoming projects including the Peaky Blinders film and a Top Boy prequel.
Early Career and Breakthrough
Barry Keoghan was born in Dublin on October 18, 1992, and raised in the Summerhill neighborhood . His path to acting began when he answered a public casting call posted in a local shop window, landing a small part in Between the Canals (2011) . That first experience proved transformative. “I remember on ‘Between the Canals,’ when the camera went up, I was like, this is it,” Keoghan later recalled .
He followed with roles in King of the Travellers and Stalker (both 2012), then gained wider recognition as Wayne in the crime series Love/Hate in 2013 . His character’s disturbing acts of violence, including shooting a cat, announced a willingness to embrace unsettling material . During this period, Keoghan briefly studied at what is now Bow Street Academy in Dublin, though he faced rejections from multiple drama schools before finding his footing .
International Breakthrough in 2017
2017 proved to be Keoghan’s breakthrough year. He appeared as George, a young civilian sailor, in Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic Dunkirk, which also starred Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy . That same year, he played Martin, a sinister teenager who upends a surgeon’s family, in Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer opposite Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman .
These two performances introduced Keoghan to global audiences and demonstrated his range across blockbuster and art-house cinema. The role in The Killing of a Sacred Deer earned him the IFTA Award for Best Actor in a Lead Role at the 2018 ceremony .
Building an Unconventional Résumé
Keoghan continued to choose idiosyncratic projects throughout the late 2010s. In 2018, he portrayed Spencer Reinhard in American Animals, a crime drama based on a true story . The following year brought two significant credits: he appeared as Pavel in the acclaimed HBO miniseries Chernobyl, and returned to Irish criminal territory in Calm with Horses, which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor .
In 2021, he played the Scavenger in The Green Knight, based on Arthurian legend, and entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Druig in Chloé Zhao’s Eternals . The following year, he made a brief but memorable appearance in The Batman as the Unseen Arkham Prisoner, a character strongly resembling the Joker .Quick Bio: Barry Keoghan
Critical Acclaim and Leading Roles
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) marked a turning point. Keoghan portrayed Dominic Kearney, a sensitive and wayward young man on a remote Irish island during the Civil War . His affecting performance earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA win in the same category . The film, written and directed by Martin McDonagh, reunited him with Colin Farrell .
Keoghan’s most prominent leading role came in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (2023). He starred as Oliver Quick, an Oxford student drawn into the orbit of the wealthy Felix Catton, played by Jacob Elordi . Though the film received mixed critical reviews, it became a viral phenomenon on TikTok, driven by several outlandish scenes . The performance brought Golden Globe, BAFTA, and IFTA nominations .
In 2024, Keoghan appeared in three distinct projects: as Lt. Curtis Biddick in the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air, as a single father in the drama Bird, and as an Irish shepherd in the thriller Bring Them Down . His work in Bird earned another IFTA nomination .
Awards and Recognition
Keoghan’s awards cabinet reflects steady critical recognition over more than a decade. He won the IFTA for Best Actor in a Lead Role for The Killing of a Sacred Deer in 2018 and received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for The Banshees of Inisherin in 2023 . His Oscar nomination for the same performance marked his arrival among cinema’s most respected performers .
He has also been recognized by the Screen Actors Guild, receiving nominations for both supporting actor and ensemble for The Banshees of Inisherin . In 2017, Variety named him one of its 10 Actors to Watch, and the Hollywood Reporter included him in its Top 20 Rising Stars under 35 .
Upcoming Projects
Keoghan has a packed slate of forthcoming work. In 2026, he appears in Crime 101 as an unstable young biker and in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, playing Duke Shelby, the son of Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby . He also stars in Hurry Up Tomorrow alongside the Weeknd .
Netflix has greenlit Jonny Boy, a five-episode Top Boy prequel series, with Keoghan reprising his role as Jonny McGee and executive producing through his Wolfcub banner . Production begins in 2027, with Ronan Bennett returning to write and Ali Abbasi directing . “Wolfcub Productions is proud to bring Jonny McGee to the screen,” Keoghan and co-founder Des Byrne said in a statement .
Further ahead, Keoghan will reprise his Joker role in The Batman: Part II (2028) and has been cast as drummer Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes’s four-part Beatles film series, also slated for 2028 . With projects spanning crime drama, superhero cinema, and musical biopic, Keoghan continues to demonstrate remarkable versatility.What is Barry Keoghan best known for?
Keoghan earned an Oscar nomination and won a BAFTA for his role as Dominic Kearney in The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) . He also gained widespread attention for starring in Saltburn (2023) and appearing in Dunkirk, Eternals, and The Batman .
What awards has Barry Keoghan won?
He won the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for The Banshees of Inisherin in 2023 and received his first Oscar nomination for the same role . He also won IFTA Awards for The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2018) and Mammal (2016) .
What is Barry Keoghan’s role in the Peaky Blinders movie?
He plays Duke Shelby, the estranged son of Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man . In Tommy’s absence, Duke has become the new leader of the gang .
Will Barry Keoghan return as the Joker in The Batman Part II?
As of late 2024, Keoghan said he had not been contacted about returning and described his involvement as uncertain . He expressed interest in exploring the role further if given the opportunity .
What is the Top Boy prequel about?
Netflix greenlit Jonny Boy, a five-episode prequel series focused on Keoghan’s character Jonny McGee from Top Boy . Keoghan will reprise the role and executive produce through his Wolfcub Productions banner .
