The manager of a Dublin youth club where the Bafta-winning actor Barry Keoghan starred in one of his first drama roles has hailed the Irishman as a “fantastic role model” who is already inspiring the next generation. The 30-year-old Dubliner – who is also nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor alongside the veteran Irish actor Brendan Gleeson – was praised after dedicating his Bafta win to Ireland and “the kids that are dreaming to be something from the area I come from”.
Keoghan, whose mother struggled with drug addiction and died when he was a child, was placed with a dozen foster homes along with his brother before going to live with his grandmother. In the wake of the dizzying success of his acting career, pupils at Keoghan’s former school said he was inspiring – something that Gillian Collins, operations manager of Belvedere Youth Club, agrees with.
“It’s amazing, it’s so positive. It’s great that the north inner city is out there in the media for positive news for a change, not all the negativity. It’s so inspiring,” she told PA. Keoghan was a member at the club for several years as a young teenager, and starred as Link Larkin in their 2010 production of Hairspray – The Musical, one of the first acting roles he ever had.
