Ringo Starr Says Barry Keoghan Will Play Him in Sam Mendes’ Beatles Films
Dedicated Beatles geeks, listen up: It sounds like we finally have a little bit of semi-concrete casting information on director Sam Mendes hotly anticipated quadrilogy of upcoming biopics about the Fab Four. This news comes from no less than Ringo Starr himself, who told Entertainment Tonight that actor Barry Keoghan had been cast to portray him in the ultra-ambitious slate of upcoming films. The legendary Beatles drummer said the following: “I think it’s great. I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”
Starr is of course always willing to poke fun at his image, having been portrayed since the 1960s as the most lighthearted and affable member of the iconic rock ‘n roll quartet. The film project from Sony Pictures, meanwhile, would task Skyfall director Mendes with making one feature film for each of the Beatles, presumably with the same actors portraying the members in each film, each of which would be presented from the perspective of a Beatle: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. There has been endless speculation on which performers might get a crack at playing various Beatles, with names like Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson rumored at different points, but the casting of the Irish Barry Keoghan as Starr seems to be the closest thing to a confirmation we’ve yet heard. The completed Beatles projects from Mendes aren’t expected in theaters before 2027, but the project is extra significant for the fact that it has the participation and music rights of the late John Lennon and George Harrison’s families. This should theoretically provide a level of access not seen in Beatles-related projects in recent years.
Presumably, these deals are still in preliminary stages, and one wonders how many potential pitfalls there could be for a four-film Beatles series of this magnitude. Would Mendes attempt to shoot them all back to back? Would a poor reaction to the first film in the series doom the rest to development hell or streaming purgatory? Which Beatle do you even open with, in a series of four films? There are some major questions that need answering here, and we can’t help but think that the entire thing could potentially collapse under the weight of its ambitions.
Still, casting Barry Keoghan feels like a good step in the right direction, a seriously hot up-and-coming actors whose turn in Saltburn last year was equal parts captivating and meme-generating. Keoghan has also been Oscar nominated already, for his role in Martin McDonagh award-garning The Banshees of Inisherin, and seems a good candidate to capture both the playful and more serious sides of Ringo Starr. We’ll bring you more developments on the simmering quartet of Beatles biopics as they arrive.