Barry Keoghan survived life-threatening infection right before ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’

Right before he shot the part that earned him his first Oscar nomination, Barry Keoghan survived a life-threatening infection.

In a recent cover story for GQ, Keoghan revealed that he had a case of necrotizing fasciitis – a rare, rapidly spreading, flesh-eating bacterial infection – right before he started filming The Banshees of Inisherin.

The infection was on his arm, and Keoghan said it was so bad doctors considered amputation. When he asked if he was going to die, his doctors simply responded, “Well, we don’t know.”

Banshees director Martin McDonagh visited Keoghan in the hospital days before the film was set to begin shooting.

“I went to the hospital thinking, s*** is he going to die? Let alone, is he going to make the movie?” McDonagh said. Even still, McDonagh said Keoghan powered through.

“I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off,” McDonagh said. “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.’”

The director’s hospital visit proved to be prophetic. Keoghan said that McDonagh had faith he’d pull through, telling him, “Just remember this when you’ve been nominated for an Oscar.”

Also in the GQ article, Keoghan opened up about his flirtatious relationship with his Saltburn costar Jacob Elordi.

“I’m really flirtin’,” Keoghan said. “It ain’t just for the cameras and the premiere[s] … We’ve just done a movie where we had to kiss, man. Look at the scenes we’ve done. You have to be comfortable with yourself.”