Words on the street is that Saltburn star Barry Keoghan is set to play The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles biopic film. The casting is seemingly confirmed by Starr himself recently.
“I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many,” quipped the 84-year-old musician when asked by Entertainment Tonight about the Keoghan rumor.
Ringo’s film will be one fourth of a four-picture project about The Beatles, each focusing on one member of the band. Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes will direct all four films, which will tell interconnecting stories about the legendary band’s foursome, known for iconic songs like Here Comes The Sun, Hey Jude, Yesterday, Let It Be and many others. The films are produced by Sony Pictures.
In the last few years, Keoghan has established himself as one of the biggest rising actors in Hollywood. He stole the scenes through a number of roles in Dunkirk and The Eternals. Then, in 2023, the Irish actor received his first Oscar nomination for his indelible supporting turn in Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin. In the same year, he hit the pop culture zeitgeist thanks to Emerald Fennell’s black comedy Saltburn. The actor’s also been in the gossip cycle a lot, thanks to his relationship with pop starlet Sabrina Carpenter.
Aside from Keoghan, rumors are floating around that the films have also cast three rising young actors to portray the rest of the Beatles: Gladiator II star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, The Iron Claw breakout Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Charlie Rowe as George Harrison. So far, the studio has not confirmed nor denied these casting rumors.