Barry Keoghan credits therapy for helping him build a "lovely" relationship with his son

He told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "I've got a really strong team around me, people I massively care about and they care about me. I've got a right-hand man who doesn't leave my side - he comes everywhere with me.

"When you make a decision to step up and get on with it, you understand that you need to do stuff like therapy to grow, and to be honest with yourself about certain things.

"That's one of the reasons I'm starting to enjoy life and having a lovely relationship with my little boy.

"Getting to see him grow gives me such love and hope. He's starting to talk now and give backchat."

Barry, 32, and his brother spent a lot of their childhood in foster care as their drug-addicted mother - who died when he was 12 years old - was unable to care for them, but their grandmother was a formidable figure in their lives.

And the 'Banshees of Inisherin' actor thinks that's why he gravitates towards female directors.

He said: "I was taken into full-time care when I was 10 or 11. My granny, my auntie and her daughter, three really strong women, moved into the same bedroom to give up their room for me and my brother.

"I was raised by those three women and learned my principles and to lift the toilet seat up.

"My granny was like a father figure and a mother figure for me- better than any man. And she's tough as nails.

"So I do gravitate towards female filmmakers, because I'm allowed to be a bit more vulnerable. It's not a conscious thing."