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Actor Barry Keoghan has revealed he could have died after suffering from a case of necrotizing fasciitis, which medical experts say is fatal in one of five people who contract it.
Speaking to GQ, Keoghan revealed he caught the disease shortly before filming The Banshees of Inisherin. Doctors told him he might have to amputate his arm, and he believes he could have died. Director Martin McDonagh recalled meeting with Keoghan as he was recovering.
“I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off,” McDonagh said. “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, Sh**–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.”
McDonagh told Keoghan to remember this moment when he was nominated for an Oscar, and sure enough, Keoghan did earn an Academy Award nomination for Banshees.
Keoghan’s latest project is the thriller Saltburn alongside Jacob Elordi. Keoghan said it feels nice to no longer be looked as the “weird-looking guy” and instead is leading a movie.
“It’s nice not just being looked at as the weird-looking guy, the unique feckin’ freaky little freak man-child, freak child-man, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “It’s nice to see people kind of look at you in that way. I’ll be honest. It is nice.”
Saltburn is streaming now on Prime Video. He’ll be seen next in the World War II mini-series Masters of the Air. He played Joker in The Batman, but hasn’t been asked to come back for the sequel.
