Barry Keoghan just dropped one of the most honest confessions we’ve heard in a long time, he says he’s an addict, and he’s finally done pretending otherwise.
In a brutally raw new interview with Hollywood Authentic, the 32-year-old Irish actor didn’t sugarcoat anything. He straight-up said he’s no longer in denial and is ready to face his demons.
“I’m not in denial anymore. I understand that I do have an addiction, and I am an addict,” Barry Keoghan admitted. And he wasn’t vague about where it’s all coming from. Barry has lived through more than his share of trauma, his mom died from heroin addiction when he was just a kid, and he’s also lost his father, two uncles, and a cousin to drugs. That should’ve been enough of a wake-up call, but as he explained, curiosity has a nasty way of pulling you in anyway.
“But your curiosity is a powerful thing,” he said. “Sometimes it’s beneficial, and sometimes it’s detrimental. For me, it was detrimental.” Even becoming a dad couldn’t pull him back from the edge at first. He has a two-year-old son, Brando, with his ex, Alyson Kierans, but that deep curiosity and the pressures of Hollywood hit hard. “You go to LA, you go to Hollywood, wherever the big scene is. There’s an enormous amount of pressure and a different lifestyle that is good and bad for you. You’re around the scene. You just happen to be the one that ends up doing it.”
That “scene” left literal marks. “I’ve got scars here to literally prove it,” he said. “They’re a result of using.” But Barry Keoghan’s addiction confession doesn’t stop at just admitting the problem, he also says he’s finally in a place of peace. He’s not pretending anymore. He’s not numbing anything. He’s just facing it all, scars and all.
“I’m at peace now and responsible for everything that I do,” he shared. “I’m accepting. I’m present. I’m content. I’m a father. I’m getting to just see that haze that was once there, it’s just a bit sharper now and colorful. I feel like I’ve arrived.” It’s not just about public redemption, it’s personal. “I apologize, too, mainly to myself more than anything else for all the pain I’ve put people and myself through.”
His insight into addiction isn’t just about his own struggle, it goes back decades, to watching his own mother fall apart. “I remember being kids here and hearing my mum scream through the letterbox, asking for us while she’s battling addiction, while she’s looking for money to score,” he recalled. “And we were just told to stay in bed. We weren’t to go down and hug her.”
That memory clearly never left him. It’s the kind of wound that shapes everything. And yet, even with that history, the Hollywood lifestyle still managed to lure him in. But now, Barry Keoghan’s addiction confession is more than just a headline, it’s a statement of ownership, accountability, and a turning point.
At 32, with a son, scars, and a career that’s finally aligning with his sense of purpose, Barry isn’t trying to play a victim or pretend he’s fixed. He’s just telling the truth, and that honesty might be the thing that saves him in the end.
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