Barry Keoghan was diagnosed with a rare flesh-eating disease just before his breakthrough film role.
Barry Keoghan battled a flesh eating disease before breakthrough role
The 31-year-old actor - who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in 'The Banshees of Inisherin' - has revealed he battled necrotising fasciitis in 2021, and almost lost his arm as well as his life.
Speaking to GQ magazine, he revealed he nearly lost his arm to the disease, while he recalled asking doctors if he was going to die.
They told him: "Well, we don't know."
One in five cases of the illness are fatal, and amputation was a possibility for Barry, who has a scar running up his arm from the health scare.
The NHS describes the flesh-eating disease as a "rare and life-threatening infection that can happen if a wound gets infected", noting that "it needs to be treated in hospital straight away".
He was visited by 'The Banshees of Inisherin' director Martin McDonagh just before filming was set to get underway on the 2022 comedy drama.
The filmmaker said: “I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off.
“We were only about four days out from shooting, and his arm was puffed up. But he was like, ‘Yeah, no, I’m going to be fine—I’ll see you on Tuesday.’
"I went to the hospital thinking ... Is he going to die? Let alone, is he going to make the movie. But I came out of there energised and looking forward to it.”
The 'Saltburn' star can still recall his heart monitor beeping in the background as the director told him to "remember this when you’ve been nominated for an Oscar".
That ended up being the case, although he missed out on the Academy Award itself after Ke Huy Quen took home the best supporting actor trophy thanks to his work in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'.