{"id":157434,"date":"2025-09-20T17:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/157434\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T17:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T17:11:10","slug":"its-frightening-to-play-an-icon-like-john-lennon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/157434\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s frightening to play an icon like John Lennon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harris Dickinson likes time alone, a stroll in the local woods to clear his brain. The actor can walk for miles. Nature, solitude, is \u201ca remedy\u201d, he says while talking about walks in Epping Forest in east London, near where he grew up.<\/p>\n

However, there might be a problem. Dickinson is playing John Lennon, in Sam Mendes\u2019s absurdly audacious The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, due in cinemas in 2028. Mendes\u2019s opus devotes one film to each member of the Fab Four, and while a Paul McCartney instalment is essential, George Harrison\u2019s is a more ethereal prospect and Ringo Starr has had a nice life, Lennon\u2019s story is clearly the most interesting and challenging \u2014 from the music to the drugs, Yoko Ono, more drugs and his murder.<\/p>\n

It is not, I suggest to Dickinson, a role that will bring much of his essential \u2026 \u201cCalm?\u201d he interrupts. Quite. Did he feel reticent about taking it on? \u201cA little,\u201d he admits. \u201cIt felt frightening because of the magnitude of the character \u2014 this icon. There\u2019s always a fear, but the fear around the exposure that will come with it didn\u2019t creep in too much because it is a privilege that I get to do this every day.\u201d He grins. \u201cAnd, yes, I\u2019ll still go to the forest.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

From left: Dickinson as John Lennon with fellow Beatles actors Paul Mescal (McCartney), Barry Keoghan (Starr) and Joseph Quinn (Harrison)<\/p>\n

JOHN RUSSO\/PA WIRE<\/p>\n

He has met McCartney a few times but not Ono or Lennon\u2019s sons, Sean and Julian. His background is similar to Lennon\u2019s and he frowns when I warn him how many working-class hero headlines are heading his way. <\/p>\n

But his parents \u2014 a hairdresser and a social worker \u2014 are thrilled. \u201cMy dad\u2019s a northerner, from near Liverpool, so he was very impressed,\u201d says Dickinson, who is 29. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Mum just can\u2019t quite believe it. But it\u2019s funny, my family has this amazing ability to move on very quickly. The other day I put in the family group chat that I\u2019d met Paul. One person said, \u2018Wow!\u2019 And then they moved on to send photos of [my nieces and nephews] in a park.\u201d He rolls his eyes in loving exasperation \u2014 a man so far very relaxed at the start of a job that is as big as one can, well, imagine.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Beatles: Sam Mendes promises \u2018first bingeable cinema\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

We meet in Dickinson\u2019s office in London. As well as acting \u2014 excelling in the wealth satire Triangle of Sadness and Babygirl, in which he has an affair with Nicole Kidman\u2019s character \u2014 he runs a company called Devisio Pictures and has a full range of merch (lighters, mugs) emblazoned with its name. He is proud, and he should be, because before all that Beatles bombast this rather unusual star has directed his first film. Urchin is about a homeless recovering addict who wants to do better, but keeps finding trapdoors. It is a sad if surprisingly humorous film that humanises the people we walk past day-to-day. It took him five years to write and opened to rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival in May.<\/p>\n

\"Film<\/p>\n

With Nicole Kidman in Babygirl (2024)<\/p>\n

NIKO TAVERNISE\/A24\/PA<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I\u2019m just looking at my Cannes acceptance letter \u2014 no big deal,\u201d Dickinson says drily, a little bit David Brent, as he peers towards his shelves. I say the shelves need filling. \u201cWhat with? Awards? Pictures of me?\u201d He smiles as he sits down, <\/p>\n

In his white T-shirt and big black trousers. Dickinson is dry and sarcastic, very much like, well, John Lennon.<\/p>\n

He isn\u2019t afraid of a challenge. Urchin took a while to fund. \u201cIt\u2019s not a subject matter that people are exactly putting their hands in their pockets for willy-nilly to get made,\u201d he admits. \u201cIt\u2019s very personal,\u201d he adds, pointing out that the main character, Mike (Frank Dillane), works in a hotel, as Dickinson did in his early twenties, and as a litter picker on London Bridge, as he also did. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of meaningful links to how I\u2019ve arrived where I am,\u201d Dickinson says. Dickinson has a bit part. Did he put himself in to help with financing? \u201cNo, another actor dropped out, so I just decided to do it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has that sort of energy about him \u2014 this pragmatic attitude that if there is something to be done he should just do it. For years Dickinson has worked with the homeless, and not in the patron way other celebrities might. \u201cI have a problem with people in entertainment talking about their involvement in causes because there are so many people that don\u2019t get the spotlight like that,\u201d he says. However, in lockdown he helped at Project Parker, an organisation in Walthamstow in east London, while also working for the Waterloo branch of Under One Sky, a charity that distributes food and medical supplies, then setting up its Hackney branch.<\/p>\n

I guess the whole point of Urchin is to raise awareness? \u201cFor sure,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to sound like some f***ing faux saviour, offering up solutions to problems that are way bigger than me. I\u2019m just a tiny cog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he has done his hard yards, meeting experts in prison reform, probation, addiction and restorative justice. Growing up, he also knew people who went through the problems raised. \u201cThe fragility is scary.\u201d I say the hardest scene is when Mike is told that because he is a white, able-bodied man with a history of crime he will not receive the rehousing he needs. <\/p>\n

\u2022 The making of Harris Dickinson, from binman to Beatle<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the truth,\u201d Dickinson says. \u201cHe\u2019s not going to be prioritised. I don\u2019t know solutions, but we\u2019re in a mental health epidemic right now, particularly among men \u2014 people fall between the cracks continuously.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/p>\n

Dickinson with his partner, Rose Gray<\/p>\n

ANTHONY HARVEY\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

Dickinson was born and brought up in east London, spending four years in the Royal Marine Cadets from the ages of 13 to 17 before deciding, \u201cNah, f*** that,\u201d and acting instead. The US indie film Beach Rats was a breakthrough and he has never really been like most other actors. He just cares too much. Just after Beach Rats, he tells me, he took a part in \u201ca Malaysian horror film\u201d \u2014 Don\u2019t Look at the Demon \u2014 and was shocked to learn how many colleagues are just there for the money.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I was working in a hotel at the time \u2014 I was buzzing to get a job,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut I got to Malaysia and was having a cigarette with one of the actors, excitedly talking about the role, when she said, \u2018Nobody\u2019s ever going to see this.\u2019\u201d He pauses. \u201cShe basically told me she was there for the holiday and I was gutted because I wanted it to be good. I was turning up with my best shit and, well \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI am always scared that all this is going to come tumbling down. I feel like every film could be my last.\u201d Yet surely now he can pick better? \u201cYes, I feel comfort knowing I don\u2019t have to do everything that comes my way, but it\u2019s also about understanding the way I want to live my life. Do I want to be away from my family? My partner?\u201d Dickinson lives with the singer Rose Gray. \u201cIt\u2019s choices, isn\u2019t it and Babygirl was significant while Triangle of Sadness was a bit of a moment, but my career\u2019s a weird one to unpack.\u201d <\/p>\n

Did it feel odd how fast he went from being unknown to cavorting with Kidman? \u201cSure. It can be strange telling your mum what you\u2019ve been up to.\u201d<\/p>\n

I first met Dickinson a couple of years ago, when he told me a story about a mystery actor \u2014 \u201ca wanker, middle to upper class\u201d \u2014 who \u201chumiliated\u201d him on an early film. The actor suggested they play a game where he pretended to be someone on set and everyone had to guess who he was. Someone asked \u201cWhat food are you?\u201d The reply was: \u201cFish \u2019n\u2019 chips.\u201d Then: \u201cWhat TV show are you?\u201d The answer? \u201cLove Island.\u201d It was designed to highlight that Dickinson is working class when everybody else on set was not. <\/p>\n

Dickinson did not name the actor, but in the comments Sunday Times readers played sleuth, raking through Dickinson\u2019s CV. \u201cGo on,\u201d Dickinson says, \u201cwho did they think?\u201d Someone said Ralph Fiennes. \u201cNo, it\u2019s not Ralph. Ralph\u2019s a sweetheart.\u201d Someone else said Robert Lindsay. \u201cF***! I\u2019ve been caught!\u201d he shrieks, laughing so loudly I fear for the windows. So was it Lindsay? He doesn\u2019t really answer, just mutters.<\/p>\n

Make of that what you will, but since that time Dickinson\u2019s life has changed. He is now mixing in circles not too dissimilar to the elite dissected so brutally in Triangle of Sadness. \u201cThat\u2019s what my next film will be about,\u201d he says, intriguingly. \u201cBut that\u2019s not to say my life is perfect now, I\u2019m still dealing with shit. People who look to success and think that it brings a clearance of problems are false, but, yes, I\u2019m essentially middle class now. And while I do not like the categorisation of class, because it\u2019s muddled, weird, outdated, my perspective has of course changed because of the life and career I have.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/p>\n

With Charlbi Dean in Ruben Ostlund\u2019s Triangle of Sadness (2022)<\/p>\n

PLATTFORM PRODUKTION\/ARTE FRANCE CINEMA\/ALAMY<\/p>\n

He is open minded in his approach to roles. While Stephen Graham said he wouldn\u2019t play Mr Darcy because he\u2019s working class, Dickinson is game, voicing him in an upcoming Audible adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, with Marisa Abela as Elizabeth Bennet. \u201cYeah! It\u2019s random that I got asked to do it,\u201d he says. \u201cMr Darcy is definitely someone that I never saw on my bingo card, but that is beautiful material. It is something I didn\u2019t necessarily grow up with an understanding of. But if I can have the variety in that sense and people aren\u2019t seeing me as one thing, then I\u2019m always into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

We end on Lennon. I assume he can\u2019t say much about the films yet? \u201cI\u2019ve probably already said too much.\u201d The script? \u201cObviously not.\u201d Is there a WhatsApp group for him, Paul Mescal (McCartney), Barry Keoghan (Ringo) and Joseph Quinn (Harrison)? \u201cOf course.\u201d Called what? \u201cYou don\u2019t want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

I say that I emailed Tony King, an old friend of Lennon\u2019s. \u201cDid you now?\u201d Dickinson says wryly. Indeed \u2014 he told me Dickinson had already been to see him to ask for advice on how to play the singer. King believes Dickinson should not do an impersonation, but \u201cestablish a \u2018now\u2019 version\u201d of Lennon, \u201clike Austin Butler did with Elvis\u201d. Dickinson nods: \u201cDo it like Austin.\u201d King also added that Lennon was not a good drinker. \u201cLike me,\u201d Dickinson says. He could be unpleasant. \u201cThat\u2019s not like me. I\u2019m just a wimp.\u201d So how will he play Lennon? \u201cI actually don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mostly, though, King remembered Lennon\u2019s sense of humour, which is why, frankly, this casting works. There is just such an easy wit to Dickinson that mirrors what we know of Lennon. For instance, when I tell him that at least being cast as Lennon removes Dickinson from the James Bond rumours, the actor raises an eyebrow. \u201cWell, that won\u2019t start for a bit, will it?\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I like a martini,\u201d he adds. \u201cBut who knows?\u201d Who does know? \u201cI do.\u201d Really? \u201cYes.\u201d <\/p>\n

So is it him? Who is playing Bond? \u201cI can\u2019t say, obviously.\u201d He pauses. \u201cIt\u2019s Michael Caine.\u201d And he\u2019s joking. Or is he? <\/p>\n

Urchin is in cinemas from Oct 3<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite film starring Harris Dickinson? Let us know in the comments below<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harris Dickinson likes time alone, a stroll in the local woods to clear his brain. The actor can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-157434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}