Welcoming the new Beatles
What are your feelings about Sam Mendes' casting?
If you are chronically online, you probably saw the discourse about Sam Mendes’ four Beatles films last week. I have no skin in the game nor opinions about the casting, but apparently some people think the actors should all be native to Liverpool? I urge people to understand that they will be acting. Plus after watching Say Nothing, I love when the Irish can get one over on the British. Interestingly, I do live quite close to the Abbey Road crossing, so there’s a non-zero chance I will encounter the film set in the near future.
But knowing that there have been many oPInIonS about casting, who are the four guys? Let’s look at Mendes’ Beatles and the best movies to play for them in Moviegrid, as they inevitably become a more serious part of the actor rotation.
Paul Mescal - Paul McCartney
Some of us are holding out for Paul in Linklater’s Merrily We Roll Along, coming out in 20??, but until then here’s what you can use in Moviegrid.
Foe (2023): I believe that I watched about 2/3 of this once, not because I don’t love Paul or Saoirse Ronan, I obviously do. It’s sci-fi and I really have to be in the right mood for that.
The Lost Daughter (2021): Paul has a small role that coincided with when he started to really pop during Normal People, so you may not remember him in this movie. The press was all about Olivia Coleman. Also stars Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard and Jessie Buckley (who will have her own post because I loveeee her and I believe needs to make her way to at least the Deep Cut puzzle.)
Harris Dickinson - John Lennon
Harris Dickinson, of the “Father Figure” dance in Babygirl (2024) fame and very importantly David Von Erich, the first brother to die in The Iron Claw (2023), really popped off recently but steer clear of those movies in the game. Can I offer you two Saoirse Ronan movies instead?
Blitz (2024): Being that Apple does basically zero marketing for their original movies and tv shows, I have to assume that this movie barely exists. Weirdly there are multiple ads in the London underground that I still see months after its release, but I don’t know a single person who has seen it.
See How They Run (2022): Harris was not on my radar back when I watched this so it was a fun surprise to see him in the cast list. I frequently use this movie for Saoirse, Sam Rockwell, and Adrien Brody. Cast also includes Ruth Wilson and David Oyelowo.
Joseph Quinn - George Harrison
Joseph has the smallest filmography of the four as he is largely a theatre kid. He made a big impression in Gladiator II (2024) last summer, starring the above mentioned Paul Mescal. He also had a big role in A Quiet Place: Day One (2024). Most of his film work is upcoming and includes movies I will never see like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and various Avengers sequels. But there is one movie to highlight in 2025:
Warfare (2025): I just saw this trailer at the cinema over the weekend and it also stars Will Poulter, Charles Melton, Kit Connor, Noah Centineo and Michael Gandolfini. It’s a real who’s who of internet boyfriends.
Barry Keoghan - Ringo Starr
Barry is probably the most self-explanatory of the four. Everyone in the world saw Saltburn and unfortunately everyone also knows he was a voice in The Batman, so that’s a bad answer. Banshees is everything and I will forever be mad that Colin Farrell didn’t win that year. What I do recommend:
Trespass Against Us (2016): A British family drama also starring Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Rory Kinnear, and Kingsley Ben-Adir (while I loved him in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Almeida recently, I will never recover from seeing the awful Bob Marley biopic trailer 1000x).
American Animals (2018): Also star Evan Peters and Blake Jenner, whom I believe was replaced by Paul Mescal in Linklater’s Merrily. It all comes back around.
So brush up now, these guys are only going to get more famous and be on Moviegrid more often.