The Beatles biopic has great actors – but there’s one obvious problem

The upcoming Beatles biopic has confirmed the four actresses playing the leading lady roles, and there is still a glaring issue.

In April, the Beatles biopic was slated for being ‘horribly miscast’ as Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn, and Barry Keoghan were announced as the Fab Four.

The issue was not only with the hot actors playing the iconic singers who looked nothing like, criticism came for casting two Irish men and two Londoners to play famous scousers.

It was announced on October 9 that the cast will also include: Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd, and Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey.

Meaning that once again, not a single person from Liverpool has been cast in leading roles in the films, and fans aren’t impressed.

‘Not a single Liverpudlian actor insight for a biopic about [4 sic] of the most famous Liverpudlian singers is a crime,’ said Duke_0f_London on X.

‘The fact that they haven’t cast unknown local actors from Liverpool for the Beatles biopic is so upsetting to me,’ said haloftb.

In real life, Yoko is Japanese, Pattie is from Taunton, Linda was from New York, and only Maureen was from Liverpool. So perhaps there is an argument that only Maureen should have been from Liverpool, but, that’s not how a lot of series have been doing it recently.

As seen in House of Guinness, the casting director didn’t hesitate to cast Irish actors who put on English accents in the series (like Anthony Boyle’s character Arthur), and also had a fair few English actors with Irish accents (James Norton’s Mr Rafferty).

This mix meant that Irish actors had their time to shine on screen, and perhaps the more A-list English actors were surrounded by Irish people and could have a greater grasp of the culture and accent.

Even those close to the Beatles have pointed out the casting issue.

John Lennon’s sister Julia Baird told MailOnline that she wasn’t impressed with the casting of Paul Mescal: ‘Well he’s in everything! What’s wrong with Liverpool? We have actors, and they speak the language.’

She was then asked her opinion on Harris Dickinson being cast as her late brother John, who was assassinated in 1980: ‘I don’t think anything other than, have they been investigated and looked at Liverpool actors? Paul Mescal is in everything – get real, come on. 

‘There are more actors out there waiting for a go, and for a chance. It will be interesting to see what kind of accent he comes up with, because nobody can do a Liverpool accent. They all get it wrong.

‘Well, we [Liverpool] have got acting schools. You all know about the Playhouse in Liverpool, and every single big actor from years ago went through it, so why wouldn’t you think, let’s at least go and have a look?’

Earlier this year, Adolescence was a breakout hit – with young actor Owen Cooper winning an Emmy for his role as Jamie Miller and making history as the youngest ever male actor to win the category of supporting actor in a limited or anthology series.

Stephen Graham, 52, also picked up two Emmys, including best actor in a limited or anthology series or movie.

The success of the series highlighted the talent in the north of England, after the role of Jamie was cast from an open casting call, and Owen was discovered despite having no previous professional acting experience.

Could this have been replicated in the Beatles film? Given the fact that four films about the Beatles are guaranteed to do well, could even just one of the main cast members have been a scouser?

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the actors won’t do a fantastic job. In fact, despite the disappointment of a lack of Liverpool representation, the announcement of the women leading the cast has sparked even more excitement about the project.

‘The way the girls are iconic and better cast than the men… they’re gonna save this movie,’ said crazy_cupcake75.

‘Beatle wives cast is more accurate than the beatles themselves 😭😭😭,’ said blkpixxie, pointing out how much the actors look like their on-screen counterparts.

The multi-movie project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and the Beatles – Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.

Speaking at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas on Monday, which the cast also attended, director Sir Sam Mendes called the films the ‘first binge-able theatrical experience’.

‘I’ve been trying to make a story about The Beatles for years,’ he added.

The four Beatles biopic films will not be released until April 2028.