Casting the likes of Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan is attention-grabbing – but not for the right reasons
It’s been a long and winding road, but director Sam Mendes’ dream of a four-part Beatles biopic, focusing on each of the band’s iconic members, is one step nearer reality following the unveiling of the cast at an industry showcase in Las Vegas.
As widely predicted, Gladiator II and Normal People actor Paul Mescal is to portray Paul McCartney, while Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson will be John Lennon, with Joseph Quinn from Stranger Things as George Harrison and Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan staffing the drum kit as Ringo Starr.
The casting is certainly attention grabbing – though not necessarily for the right reasons. You do wonder about the baggage some of the stars could potentially bring. Keoghan, for instance, remains synonymous with Saltburn and those surreally salacious scenes that, once seen, could never, ever be unseen (oh, we’ve tried).
Can we put Barry-in-the-bathtub out of our minds and buy into Keoghan as a happy-go-lucky charmer who lent his pleasantly honking vocals to “Octopus’s Garden”? All things are possible – but his casting feels up there with unveiling Jeremy Clarkson as the next James Bond.
Still, even if for those whose brains remain cheerily unseared by Saltburn, confirmation that Mendes’ Beatles project is moving forward with the full backing of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, raises all sorts of issues. Even Beatles fans – and let’s be honest, most of us are, to one degree or another – will have questions.
Such as: do we really need four stand-alone Beatles biopics – all slated for release in 2027? How would the concept even work in practice? Will landmark moments such as their 1964 Ed Sullivan Show performance or their live debut of ‘Hey Jude’ in 1968 be depicted from four distinctive vantage points?
For that matter, are all four Beatles equally interesting? We have somehow made it to 2025 without thinking too deeply about the inner workings of Ringo Starr’s creative process. Is Sam Mendes correct to bet that this situation requires urgent remedying?
Mendes, it is worth noting, has yet to share any concrete details as to how the films will work in practice. Sony Pictures has, however, used the phrase “innovative release cadence” – which sounds like something dreamt up by AI rather than a solid marketing strategy.
Back to that cast, and the glow of gimmicky “It boy-dom” hanging about them: as already pointed out, Saltburn showcased Keoghan’s unique talent for unsettling the viewer. He is a striking screen presence, but is always accompanied by an undertow of menace. Are we ready for Evil Ringo?
Mescal, meanwhile, has an energy that feels all wrong for the puppy dog-ish Macca. From Normal People onwards, the one time champion Gaelic footballer has essentially played variations on the theme of the sensitive jock – always first pick on the sports team yet partial to a good cry, as required.
Yes, he’s impressed hugely in smaller productions such as Aftersun and All of Us Strangers. But there will be nothing small about playing Paul McCartney in a biopic overseen by a James Bond director. Can Mescal make us believe he’s the guy who, later in life, would go on to write the Frog Chorus from “We All Stand Together”? Frankly, he comes across as too much of an A-type to convince as a softie who would sneak into an attic searching for an old Rupert the Bear toy, as McCartney does in the video.
Question marks will also hang about Harris Dickinson – last seen cavorting with Nicole Kidman in Babygirl. Did he bag the part because he’s the guy to put flesh and bone on John Lennon’s blend of misanthropy and idealism? Can we believe that he would be a deadbeat dad to his first son, Julian, but also capable of writing something as vulnerable and introspective as “Norwegian Wood”? Or did Mendes just give him the gig because he’s one of the trendy actors of the moment – with those crucial 730K Instagram followers?
In the case of Joseph Quinn, it is at least clear that he can pull off an enthusiastic rocker – which is the character he played as headbanger Eddie in Stranger Things. Plus, he’s lucked out in being cast as the enigmatic and soulful Harrison – a deeply mysterious musician with a fascinating interior life. There’s lots there for him to get stuck into.
But no matter how the performances turn out, there have to be questions about the wisdom of trying to tell the Beatles’ story from top to tail. After all, the best Beatles adaptations have zeroed in on specific moments from their career.
The outstanding example remains 1994’s Backbeat – which delved into the life of “lost Beatle” Stuart Sutcliffe during their Hamburg period. But a similar approach was taken just last year when Joe Stephenson’s film Midas Man told the story of the Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
Here was a familiar narrative – four scrappy kids from Liverpool who conquered the world – relayed from a fresh perspective. Midas Man was also honest about the band’s ruthless treatment of original drummer Pete Best. In one uncomfortable scene, we see John, Macca and the rest chickening out of firing him and pawning the job to Epstein.
It was a horrible way to say farewell to a long-time friend, and Midas Man could be frank about the Beatles’ gimlet-eyed careerism because it was unauthorised. By contrast, Mendes’ foursome of flicks comes with the full blessing of the Beatles estate.
The upside is that Mendes will have full use of their back catalogue. The downside is that there will be inevitable pressure on the director to deliver a sanitised retelling of the Beatles’ rise and fall.
Judging from Mendes’ remarks – he says he is “honoured to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time” – it certainly sounds like he is veering towards a hagiography rather than the more interesting warts and all portrait of The Beatles. A quartet of Beatles biopics that sing the praises of group who are already among the most lauded in history? That truly does sound like a hard day’s night to the power of four.
