Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
Barry Keoghan has spoken candidly about his past addiction to alcohol and drugs, including one incident where he says he briefly died.
The actor, known for roles in Saltburn, The Banshees of Inisherin and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, has previously addressed how substance misuse has affected his life and family.
Keoghan’s mother died from heroin addiction, and his late father — from whom he was estranged — also struggled with drugs.
His mother passed away in 2003 when he was 12, after which he spent time in the foster care system.
He later faced addiction himself, but says he has now been sober for more than two years. He discussed the turning point during an appearance on Benny Blanco’s Friends Keep Secrets podcast.
“My mom died at 31 of a heroin overdose. My dad passed away. But the curiosity of still wanting to do this for me,” he reflected. “It took me three attempts of rehab.”
“There was a sudden switch and it was when I was 32,” the BAFTA Award winning actor went on to say of his sobriety. “I was the same age as my mom and I thought ‘that’s it, I’m not doing it [anymore]’.”
Asked whether he drinks alcohol now, Keoghan said he doesn’t “do anything” and explained that he considers himself allergic to alcohol because of how his body responds to it.
He also looked back on a serious episode in London, saying that at the height of his addiction he died “for a few seconds”.
“I technically did die for a few seconds,” Keoghan shared. He was then asked if he had a ‘post-death vision’ in that brief timeframe.
“It was almost like a f**king painting,” he began to share on one side of his post-death vision. “It happened in London and I went for a few seconds and there was this sort of image of fields and there was the wind.”
Keoghan continued: “There was this girl walking away and she wouldn’t look back. She had blond hair and was walking away and I kept calling her. And she just kept walking. I wanted to see who it was, and it was almost like she was walking away to get me to follow.”
He said the other side of what he saw felt very different. “On this side there were council flats.”
Council flats are UK social housing properties that are owned and managed by local authorities.
“It was like where I grew up and it was black and white,” he continued. “And this side [with the girl] was in color.”
“There were loads of lads stabbing me and push me over. Obviously it was the doctors doing the work on me (what I was feeling), but in this vision they were stabbing me and pushing me.
“They were trying to push me over onto [the other] side. I swear, I sh*t you not, I was begging them that I could stay. They were like ‘alright, let him stay’.”
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (313) 209-9137 24/7, or contact them through their website.