Barry kogan's unconventional relationship with his 2-year-old son Brando influenced his portrayal of fatherhood in the new drama bird in a recent interview the actor who shares Brando with ex Alison kierin explained that growing up without a father figure made it challenging to draw from personal experience for the role kogan 31 noted that while love comes naturally aspects like teaching a child were unfamiliar to him leading him to approach the character more like a sibling than a traditional father despite his difficult upbringing in foster care kogen has embraced love and support recently cheering on his girlfriend Sabrina Carpenter in her music career