Barry Keoghan has been confirmed as reprising his role from Top Boy in a new spinoff show for Netflix. But how much do you know about the Irish actor?
Barry Keoghan, one of the hottest upcoming stars of the small and big screen, has confirmed that he is returning to one of his old characters – Jonny McGee from Top Boy.
Jonny was an antagonist in season five of Top Boy, a high-ranking member of an Irish gang that dealt drugs in London. But now, he is being brough back for Jonny Boy, a five-part prequel series on Netflix that will explore Jonny’s origin story, according to reporting by Deadline.
Barry, alongside his business partner Des Byrne, pitched the idea of the series to executives at Netflix, and they were supportive of the idea of exploring more of Jonny’s story.
The series will be written by Ronan Bennett, who created Top Boy. Barry and Des will co-produce Jonny Boy through his Wolfclub Productions company.
But how much do you know about Barry? Here are some facts you might not know.
He spent time in care as a child
Barry had a difficult star in life. His mother was a drug addict who died when he was just 12 years old. During his childhood Barry and his brother Eric spent seven years in foster care bouncing between 12 foster homes. However, his grandmother, along with aunt and cousin stepped in and provided the boys with a stable home.
He was banned from school plays
But Barry’s love of movies and acting did develop while he was a child. He was in school plays, until getting banned for apparently messing about too much.
He used to watch films at his local cinema – but got banned from that too after being caught sneaking into showings with his friends.
He started his acting career by answering a notice in a shop window
But those early experiences stayed with him, although it wasn’t considered as a career until Barry spotted a casting notice in a shop window for the movie Between the Canals.
The movie, released in 2010, was a small production, and set around the area of Dublin Barry was from, focusing on the lives of three small-time criminals on a St Patrick’s Day. Barry was a supporting character in it.
After this, Barry started to study acting at a Dublin drama school.
His break came in a cult Irish drama
One of Barry’s first breakthrough roles came in season four of Irish crime drama Love/Hate, which is now regarded as one of the greatest Irish TV shows. In it, Barry played Wayne Cardiff, and this gained him wider recognition in Ireland. After this, he went onto star in more movies and his name was more widely recognised.
He supports Manchester United
Like many people from the Republic of Ireland, he follows the English Premier League and is a fan of Manchester United. Barry’s connection with United is more than just support – his second cousin, Frank Stapleton, played for the Red Devils back in the 1980s. The pair appeared together in Manchester United’s promotional campaign for their 2024/25 season kit.
Barry was nervous meeting Ringo Starr
Barry will play Ringo Starr in the upcoming four-part biopic series about the Beatles. For this, Barry has met up with the drummer he is playing, but it was a nail biting encounter by the sounds of it.
Speaking on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show, Barry recounted his meeting, where he hoped to study his voice and mannerisms, but his anxiety got in the way. Barry says that Ringo asked if he wanted to play the drums, but refused, not wanting to potentially make a fool of himself.
When talking to Ringo, Barry found he couldn’t look at him. He was like ‘you can look at me’ he said.
