Rumors of who will play the Beatles immediately began popping up as soon as it was announced that Sam Mendes was set to direct a Sony Pictures four-part biopic series about the Fab Four.
As of Wednesday, Paul Mescal is attached to the movies, likely as Paul McCartney, and Barry Keoghan will portray Ringo Starr (according to Starr himself). Charlie Rowe is rumored to take on George Harrison, while Harris Dickinson is said to be attached as John Lennon.
However, Dickinson played coy when I asked him about the casting Wednesday night at the premiere of his new erotic thriller “Babygirl.”
“It would be amazing to do that,” he said, smiling. “I think the idea of Sam teaming up to do something like that would be incredibly exciting. Obviously, John Lennon is a very complex role, a pretty formidable force to try to do. It would be cool.”
When I asked if he’s signed on for the project, Dickinson laughed and said “we’ll see,” before being ushered to his next interview on the carpet.
Variety confirmed earlier on Wednesday that Mescal was joining the Beatles project after his “Gladiator II” director Ridley Scott mentioned during a conversation with Christopher Nolan at the DGA in Los Angeles. Mescal has not officially signed on just yet.
Each of the four films will focus on a different band member. The movies are expected to received theatrical releases.
Starr himself let the Keoghan casting slip when he said that the Irish actor was “somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”
Dickinson can currently be seen in Steve McQueen’s WWII drama, “Blitz,” opposite Saoirse Ronan. The Halina Reijn-directed “Babygirl,” in which he plays an intern have an affair with the tech company’s CEO (Nicole Kidman), will be in theaters on Dec. 25.
Dickinson makes his directorial debut with “Dream Space,” a film about homelessness and mental health produced by his and Archie Pearch’s production company Devisio Pictures.