My background is not a sorry story

Saltburn star Barry Keoghan says he doesn’t want his background to become a “sorry story” and says he hopes it will inspire other children who have had similar experiences growing up.

The actor and his brother spent much of their childhood in foster homes because their mother was unable to care for them due to drug addiction.

“I tell this so young kids know that no matter where you come from, you can always achieve what you want,” he said.

Keoghan responds to rumors and criticizes online trolls for making assumptions about his family life Louis Theroux Podcast.

When asked about his mother’s heroin addiction, the actor said she, along with his uncle and father, were all “sick” of heroin.

“She just couldn’t take care of us. My dad wasn’t here, so we were taken care of.

“It’s something that still bothers me,” he said. “You don’t forget waiting on the social worker’s steps for a new family to come and hang out with you.

“You ask why you?”

Throughout Keoghan’s childhood, he had 14 foster homes between the ages of 5 and 9, made up of 13 families and his own grandmother, an upbringing he says gave him “trust issues” .

“I never believe it when someone says they love me. I always think, ‘No, that’s not true’.”

Keoghan said that while living with his grandmother, he remembered his mother “screaming through the letterbox… just wanting money”.

“That was the last time I heard her voice, and her voice and that stuff stuck with me.”

His mother died when he was 12 years old.

After discovering a passion for acting at school, he decided to study acting at The Factory, Bow Street College.

He made his feature film debut in 2011 in the Irish film Between the Canals.

Since gaining international fame through his performances in Inisherine and Saltburn, Keoghan has been the subject of online abuse, with people mocking his appearance and attacking his relationship with his son .

The incidents became more frequent when his relationship with singer Sabrina Carpenter came under media scrutiny.

“There’s a lot of (abuse) online,” he said, “and if I didn’t have a strong skin or strength, I wouldn’t be sitting here.

“The more public I became, the less I posted about my children because I didn’t think it was fair to put my children online.”

He continued, “Because I’ve got that under control, people will make up stories about ‘absent father, deadbeat dad.’

“I’m not an absentee father… people like to use my son as ammunition.

“It makes me sick and makes me angry.”

When Theroux asked him how he felt when people attacked an actor’s “unique” appearance, Keoghan called it “absolutely disgusting” for people to “pick on someone’s appearance.”

“Honestly, luckily I have tough skin,” he said.

While his relationship with “Please Please” singer Carpenter continues to bring him more attention on social media platforms, Keoghan said he’s “very lucky.”

He called her “a strong independent woman, talented and very special”.

Keoghan, who will star in the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, said he chose to put his own life experiences into his acting and use them as therapy.

“I try to put real emotion into it,” he said. “I did therapy and now I have a good way of dealing with things.”

Keoghan grew up in Summerhill, Dublin Known for financial difficulties.

He told Theroux he was “lucky to be away” but that he still loved the area because it was “full of beautiful people.”

“I would like to go back and set up some kind of youth club and hire people from the area,” he added.