HANDS OFF BARRY! HE’S ONE OF OURS
GQ magazine’s edition in the UK has tried to claim Dubliner Barry Keoghan as one of their own, prompting a backlash from Irish fans of the Golden Globe best actor nominee. Keoghan, 31, has risen to huge acclaim after a succession of awards, most recently for starring as Oliver Quick in psychological thriller Saltburn. To promote its cover star online British GQ magazine wrote: ‘He’s one of our most exciting actors – a combustible shape-shifter onscreen, a moon-howling dynamo off it. And he spent the last couple of years achieving his Hollywood aspirations. Now, Barry Keoghan is deciding what to manifest next.’ The post on social media prompted a flurry of responses from this side of the water. One person wrote: ‘Hi guys. You are British GQ. You introduce Barry as “one of our most exciting actors...” I presume you know Barry is very much Irish? This would make him one of “The most exciting actors” as “our” suggests a certain Britishness??’
Another wrote: ‘“Our” – he was born in Summerhill one of the, ahem, less fashionable parts of Dublin’s North Side in the Republic of Ireland which has been independent of the UK since 1921 FYI. Do you go around claiming Russell Crowe as one of “ours”.’
Another comment read: ‘He may be your first cover star of 2024, but he
‘Do ye claim Australian actors as yours?’
sure as hell isn’t one of “your” [Britain’s or GQ’s] most exciting actors. He’s Irish, which is *an entirely separate sovereign nation*! Do ye claim Australian actors as “yours”?’
Speaking to GQ’s February Issue, Barry showed off his muscular frame in a white string vest and blue shorts.
The Banshees of Inisherin star wore gold chain necklaces and posed, rather bizarrely, with a pigeon on his shoulder for the photographs.
In the interview, he also reflected on the loneliness that comes with fame and said he often thinks about his late mother – whom he lost to heroin addiction when he was 12.