Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan Almost Lost an Arm In This Insane Medical Scare

Summary:

• Barry Keoghan is an Irish actor, who was recently critically acknowledged for his performance in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn.
• Turns out, before filming The Banshees of Inisherin, the actor almost lost an arm.
• The reason for that was a case of necrotizing fasciitis, also known as a flesh-eating disease.

It's not uncommon for celebrities to make headlines for medical scares. Although they are not naturally more prone to illness or injury than anyone else in the world, their jobs make it harder to avoid life's hardships. Some contract diseases while filming in tropical locations, while others inflict them on themselves while training.

Barry Keoghan, now widely known to audiences for his performance in Emerald Fennell's shocking psychological thriller Saltburn, has made headlines for similar reasons. However, the condition that nearly cost him his arm had nothing to do with any movie.

In fact, he was only scheduled to begin filming The Banshees of Inisherin a few days after his hospitalization. And according to director Martin McDonagh, Keoghan was very determined to go on set as planned, even though the disease he had could cost him not just an arm, but his life.

Why Does Barry Keoghan Have a Scar

The actor was lucky enough to walk out of the hospital with nothing but a gnarly long scar on his elbow, which viewers could see during his latest movie, Saltburn. Luckily, fans didn't have to wait long to get their answers. The cover story for GQ had a special few paragraphs that tell it all in great detail.

“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, Sh#t—is he going to die? Let alone, is he going to make the movie,” McDonagh recalled.

What Keoghan himself remembers much better are the director's words at that moment. He told the actor to remember this when he got his Oscar nomination - and that is exactly what happened after The Banshees of Inisherin was released. The actor lost, but the words and the honor of being nominated stuck with him long enough.

Sure, for a talent like Keoghan, nothing would have been a challenge worthy of ending his career. However, an illness as powerful as this could have had much worse consequences if he hadn't received professional medical attention in time. So if you think you have something that needs a doctor's attention, get it checked out as soon as possible.

And if there is nothing to worry about at the moment, you can check out Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi's brilliant performances in Saltburn on Prime Video.

Source: GQ