Having worked on Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer last year, co-stars Colin Farrell and Barry Keoghan reunited at last night’s 13th annual Oscar Wilde party in Santa Monica.
At the ceremony, which honours actors and filmmakers with a connection to Ireland and Irish film, Farrell presented Keoghan with the Wilde Card rising star award and was full of praise for the young actor.
“It’s really incredible what he has achieved in a few years. Anyone who knows Barry can testify to the fact that he has gone through a certain amount of experience in his own personal life,” he said.
Keoghan has talked before about the difficult circumstances he faced in his childhood. After his mother died of a heroin overdose, he and his brother spent five years in foster care.
Farrell said of Keoghan: “He has experienced a certain amount of absolute desolation in his personal life, in his past, things that I would find in my contemplation of such loss, completely insurmountable.
“So for him to out every bit of hope, and pain and curiosity in to his work but also be a man of great generosity and warmth fun, little bit of madness - just the right measure is the most impressive thing.”
He added “he has been described as up and coming but he has very much arrived on the world stage.”
Keoghan almost missed the awards after his flight out of Dublin due to the weather conditions, and said of the Storm Emma situation: “The whole of Ireland is shut down. There is a shortage of bread, s**t has hit the fan.”