# The 2011 role Barry Keoghan was advised to abandon: “You can’t get pigeonholed”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-2011-role-barry-keoghan-was-advised-to-abandon-you-cant-get-pigeonholed/
- Published: 2026-11-09T11:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T11:22:23+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/2011-role-barry-keoghan-advised-to-abandon/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- O’Connor warned Keoghan against being tied to Fair City.
- Keoghan appeared in three episodes before pursuing film roles.
- His later work brought a Bafta and an Oscar nomination.

## Summary

Director Mark O’Connor urged Barry Keoghan to leave the Irish soap opera Fair City, warning that a long-running role could limit the parts he was offered. The advice came early in Keoghan’s career, when O’Connor believed the young actor’s screen presence could take him beyond television soap work.

Keoghan made his film debut in O’Connor’s 2011 film Between the Canals and worked with him on two more films in 2012. He appeared in three Fair City episodes before moving on to larger projects, breaking through in 2017 with The Killing of a Sacred Deer and Dunkirk. He later starred in The Banshees of Inisherin, earning a Bafta and an Academy Award nomination for supporting actor.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.