Saltburn's Barry Keoghan opens up on the stark reality of becoming a father while filming the gothic thriller and how fatherhood has changed him

Saltburn star Barry Keoghan has revealed what it was like becoming a father while filming.

There is a legal provision for childcare leave for dads, which includes adoption, surrogacy and it's not just the mums who are taken care of when it comes to maternity pay, many dads can take advantage of paternity pay especially if they are likely to want time off to help with their newborn baby.

The Irish actor, who stars as middle-class interloper Oliver Quick in the Emerald Fennell film Saltburn, welcomed his first child with his then-girlfriend Alyson Sandro in the summer of 2022 while the cast was filming at Drayton House in Northamptonshire.

He's opened up on the stark reality of welcoming his son Brando in the middle of filming. Speaking to GQ, Barry said, "They gave me a day off,” he laughed. “Good on them! Day off, and straight on to night shoots and night feedings – boom!”

Alyson admitted at the time that she wasn't worried about being with their newborn baby when Barry returned to set after the birth, she said, “Barry’s lucky that I’m a Scottish, independent woman.” Barry described the arrival as, "Indescribable,” he said. “It’s a love I’ve not felt before.”

The couple reportedly split last year, and he talked about becoming a father being the "best time of his life".

“It was probably the best time of my life, to be quite fair. Havin’ a baby boy, and leadin’ a movie. It was the best time of my life, I must say – yeah,”

He has since praised the baby's mother telling GQ, "She’s done a great job and she’s an incredible mother."

Barry, who has starred in the Banshees of Inisherin and Killing of a Sacred Deer and his next project is Apple TVs Masters of the Air, admits that while fatherhood "hasn't changed him", it has affected the choices he makes including how long he's away from home shooting on location.

“I feel a responsibility. I feel an enormous amount of pressure, which is good,” he said.

“And I can’t get the little boy off my mind. It’s beautiful. Y’know, it’s crazy, but when he looks at you, you feel like the most important person in the world. That’s the effect he has on me. He smiles at you and you’re like, ‘Wow. You’re smiling at me like that? I don’t deserve that, but anyways, thanks.’”

And his baby name was inspired by fellow actor, the late Godfather star Marlon Brando. Barry said, "To have Brando in your name – feckin’ hell, man! He’s got a lot to live up to, that kid. But he’ll live up to it. He has to have that leather jacket and that rock-star attitude, you know what I mean? He’ll have a motorbike when he’s 12, I think.”

He added, “He’ll have a toothpick [in his mouth] walking around seventh grade,” Keoghan joked. “He’ll probably have a toothpick when I get home! Aww, God,” he then imagined what his son would say to him when he grew up, “‘Dad, you’re a s*** actor. You can’t do accents.’”

He paid tribute to his son in his BAFTA acceptance speech in 2023 for Best Supporting Actor. He dedicated the award to Ireland, his young son, Brando, his late mother who died when he was 12, and “also for the kids that are dreaming to be something from the area where I came from. This is for you”.

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