Paul Mescal has revealed he will be doing his own singing in the forthcoming biopics of The Beatles, and that he has spent time with the band member he will be playing, Paul McCartney.
Sam Mendes is making four upcoming Beatles films and earlier this year, it was revealed that the Fab Four will be portrayed by Harris Dickinson, Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Joseph Quinn. Dickinson will play John Lennon, Keoghan will play Ringo Starr and Quinn will play George Harrison.
The films will all be released in April 2028 and have been described as “bingeable” by Mendes. In a new interview with IndieWire, Mescal revealed some more details about the project.
Asked if he had met the real McCartney, Mescal said: “I have, yeah. He’s an extraordinary man, like to spend any time – it’s a crazy sentence to say that I’ve spent time with that man, let alone play him.” When asked if he will be doing his own singing, he confirmed: “Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.”
In May, Mescal’s cast mate, Barry Keoghan, discussed meeting Ringo Starr prior to playing the drummer in the films. Describing his nerves at meeting the legend, the Irishman said: “When I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous, like right now. But he’s like, ‘You can look at me,’” he recalled. “My job is to observe and kinda take in mannerisms and study him. I want to humanise him and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate.”
However, not every casting has been met with approval. Lennon’s sister Julia Baird spoke in April about Dickinson playing her late brother, saying she believed a Liverpudlian actor should play him. “No one else can get that Liverpool intonation,” she said, “nobody”.