During an interview with SiriusXM’s “The Morning Mash Up”, Barry Keoghan discussed the online “hate” he’s faced in the past over his appearance. “There’s a lot of hate online,” he explained. “There’s a lot of abuse of how I look, and it’s kind of past the point of — you know, everyone goes through that… but it’s made me shy away. It’s made me really go inside myself, not want to attend places, not want to go outside.” Keoghan also stated how this has affected his acting career, saying, “When that starts leaking into your art, it becomes a problem, because then you don’t want to even be on screen anymore.”

Despite the online backlash, Keoghan did note that he’s received a lot of support from the actor’s fans. “I’ve been blessed that I’ve got an incredible fan base, and people are so lovely out there”, he stated. “It’s really nice when you do Q&As, and you talk to people, and you can be there with them and answer their questions and give them all of you. And that is the good side of it.”

“But there’s also a nasty side of it,” Keoghan continued in the interview. “And I’ve removed myself from online, but I’m still a curious human being who wants to go on. And if I attend an event or if I go somewhere, you want to see how it was received. And it’s not nice, you know?”

Also in the interview, Keoghan expressed his worry about how this online backlash will affect his son, Brandon. “It is disappointing for the fans, but it’s also disappointing that my little boy has to read all of this stuff when he gets older.” Says Keoghan.