‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ Star Barry Keoghan on Playing a Simple Man With Soul

Barry Keoghan’s Zoom display name is “Barry Wolf.” In Irish, keoghan means “wolf cub,” and he and his girlfriend thought of naming their newborn son Wolf. They went with Brando instead, which is doubly fitting, as the kid’s namesake famously studied animal movements when preparing for roles.

Keoghan’s own animal magnetism is present onscreen, if only because his physicality is so refreshingly untamed. In The Banshees of Inisherin, he plays Dominic Kearney, a hapless simpleton whose constant fidgeting signals unease. But the soulfulness in Keoghan’s performance ensures that he is more than the village idiot for which others take him to be. “He’s trying to hide,” says Keoghan. “He’s always trying to cover and not show too much of himself.”

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson may be the leads of Banshees, but Keoghan, 30, is its stealth heart. When Gleeson’s aging fiddler inexplicably terminates his socializing with Farrell’s cheerful dairy farmer at the local pub, Dominic becomes an unlikely voice of reason: “What is he, 12?” Dominic is a mischief-maker with few companions. Ending a friendship is inconceivable to this lad, who is desperate to show his love for Farrell’s bookish sister (Kerry Condon). The ongoing civil war on Ireland’s mainland gives his neighbors’ melodrama existential depth.

“I’m really over the moon with the way people have responded,” says Keoghan of reactions to the film. “It gives you a certain amount of confidence — in a good way, not in an unhealthy way — that I can try to show range now and maybe step up to something else next time.”

Keoghan lived with Farrell while shooting on Inishmore, the storybook island that became the fictional Inisherin. Farrell’s solidarity has become an essential resource to Keoghan, who wants to build a shape-shifting career like his or that of Daniel Day-Lewis or Christian Bale.

For now, he’s settling into life with Brando, who, at 3 months old, already has his own passport so he can travel for Keoghan’s promotional commitments. If Banshees‘ awards potential holds steady, it’ll probably come in handy. Either way, Keoghan has taken pieces of Dominic with him, including his jittery impulses. “Even after I was finished, I was doing it,” he says of the character’s mannerisms. “My girlfriend was like, ‘What are you being Dominic for?’ I was finding it hard to break it.”

This story first appeared in the Nov. 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.