Saltburn star Barry Keoghan has pivoted to a much different role for his latest project Bird, about the fraught relationship between a young girl and her single father. But as a parent himself, film wasn't a complete departure for the 31-year-old, even if the dynamic was different than the one he has with his own child.
The Irish actor shares a two-year-old son, Brando, with his ex-girlfriend Alyson Kierans, whom he split with last year. (He's currently linked to singer-songwriter Sabrina Carpenter.) Speaking with Entertainment Weekly at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where Bird is currently screening, Keoghan opened up about how his own personal experiences, or lack thereof, affected his performance.
"I'll just say this—I didn't have a father figure growing up, so even my relationship with my son isn't quite of the normal father-son relationship, because I don't have that figure to draw experience from and to base it on," he explained. "Love, you don't need anything to draw from, love is pure, and so I'm not on about that, but I'm on about little stuff like teaching your son this or teaching your daughter that."
In the film, Keoghan's character Bug informs his 12-year-old daughter Bailey (Nykiya Adams) that he plans to marry his girlfriend, causing the pre-teen to become hurt and angry. He went on to describe the relationship between the two characters as more of a brother-sister dynamic, than of a typical father-daughter one.
"Going into this, I didn't have that [normal experience], so it's a very brother-sister kind of chemistry going on [for Bug and Bailey], which I felt was right for it," he continued. "And you see that these days—there's a lot of young fathers out there and young mothers and they're almost like sibling-like, you know what I mean? Which is beautiful."
Keoghan noted that there are moments throughout the film where his character "has to step up as a father and make very important choices and decisions," even if they aren't necessarily the best ones. "But for me, the experience of playing a father was—obviously I'm a father, but at that age, she's 12 in the movie, and it's like, what do I base it on?"
Bird has received generally favorable reviews since premiering at Cannes earlier this year. A theatrical release has yet to be announced, but it can probably be expected to hit theaters or streaming services next year.
