Barry Keoghan is set to portray Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes’ Beatles movies, according to the Beatle himself.
“I think it’s great,” said Starr to Entertainment Tonight when asked about his reaction to Keoghan’s rumored casting. “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”
Mendes is planning to direct four biopics, each dedicated to a band member: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Starr. All of the movies will be released separately in theaters by Sony Pictures. While several stars have been rumored to be circling the splashy project, including Pual Mescal and Joseph Quinn, no deals have been made with any of the cast. Sony had no comment.
“You have to match the boldness of the idea with a bold release strategy,” Rothman previously told The Hollywood Reporter about the project that earned the Oscar-winning director a coveted signoff from the group’s selective label Apple Corps. “There hasn’t been an enterprise like this before, and you can’t think about it in traditional releasing terms.”
Whether or not he ends up being cast as Starr, it is clear that Keoghan’s star continues to rise. After landing an Oscar nomination for The Banshees of Inisherin and finding widespread acclaim for his role in Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, Keoghan’s coming calendar includes the Netflix Peaky Blinders film.
