{"id":630427,"date":"2026-10-14T14:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630427\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T14:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T14:04:08","slug":"paul-mccartney-on-the-bugbear-from-upcoming-beatles-biopics-that-made-him-text-sam-mendes-dont-do-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630427\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney on the bugbear from upcoming Beatles biopics that made him text Sam Mendes &#8220;don\u2019t do this!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/paul-mccartney\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Paul McCartney<\/a> has thrown his full support behind the upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/the-beatles\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Beatles<\/a> biopics, but said that there is one small issue that made him reach out to the director and urge him \u201cdon\u2019t do this\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The films in question are the four-movie biopic series currently being worked on by Sam Mendes, slated for a simultaneous release in April 2028. They will star<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/paul-mescal\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Paul Mescal<\/a> as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/john-lennon\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Lennon<\/a>, Joseph Quinn as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/george-harrison\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">George Harrison<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/barry-keoghan\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Barry Keoghan<\/a> as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/artists\/ringo-starr\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ringo Starr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Each of the four films will tell the story of the band from a different member\u2019s point of view, and mark the first scripted Beatles movies made with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/apple-corps-ltd-and-universal-music-group-announce-landmark-partnership-for-the-beatles-ahead-of-biopics-3963762\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">full approval of Apple Corps<\/a> and the surviving band members, as well as access to the group\u2019s music rights.<\/p>\n<p>The supporting cast also includes<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/film\/beatles-biopics-saoirse-ronan-cast-as-linda-mccartney-3898109\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney<\/a>, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/saoirse-ronan-and-aimee-lou-wood-among-new-cast-additions-for-beatles-biopics-3904344\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/film\/mia-mckenna-bruce-was-not-a-beatles-fan-when-she-was-cast-in-upcoming-biopics-3920552\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey<\/a>, and Paul McCartney has already given the project his seal of approval. He also said he was pleased that Mescal will be portraying him, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/paul-mccartney-hails-very-cute-paul-mescal-ahead-of-beatles-biopics-3947106\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">describing the actor as \u201cvery cute\u201d<\/a> before the pair<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-paul-mescal-interview-paul-mccartney-about-his-new-album-boys-of-dungeon-lane-3947407\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> sat down together for an interview earlier this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a recent interview, however, he has said that there is one issue he has with the biopics, and it even led to him sending a text to Mendez which read \u201cdon\u2019t do this!\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Amy Poehler as part of her Good Hang podcast, McCartney said that he saw a still from the films, taken as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/watch-actors-in-upcoming-beatles-biopics-recreate-iconic-abbey-road-album-cover-3963079\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the cast were spotted filming the creation of the iconic \u2018Abbey Road<\/a>\u2018 album cover in London, and noticed that the actor playing him is shorter than the actor portraying John Lennon.<\/p>\n<p>He insisted that all four members are about the same height, but \u201cGuess what? [Mescal looks] smaller than the guy who plays John!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know how Sam\u2019s going to deal with it\u2026 but [Mendes] he sent me a still from the filming they\u2019re doing, crossing the Abbey Road crossing, and the Paul character is markedly smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Poehler suggested it could be simply because Macca chose to go barefooted when photographed for the \u2018Abbey Road\u2019 cover, McCartney went on to share that he texted Mendes in frustration and wrote: \u201cDon\u2019t do this!\u201d, to which the director reassured him: \u201cIt\u2019s OK, it\u2019s just the stride pattern\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He also revealed that the director went on to share another photo of the cast \u201cwhere they were equal\u201d in height to reassure the musician, and that he had the same issue with his depiction in the 2009 drama Nowhere Boy.<\/p>\n<p>Only time will tell if the four actors are the same height in the films, and McCartney\u2019s comments come after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/see-first-look-at-actors-as-the-beatles-from-upcoming-sam-mendes-biopics-3926400\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mescal recently said that filming would occupy him for much of 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jane Asher, who dated McCartney from 1963 until 1968, has revealed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/music\/paul-mccartney-ex-fiancee-jane-asher-verdict-beatles-biopics-i-wont-watch-3970944\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">she has no plans to watch the films<\/a>, and earlier this year<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/news\/film\/pattie-boyd-says-no-one-attached-to-upcoming-beatles-biopics-reached-out-to-her-i-could-have-really-told-them-great-stories-3947297\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Pattie Boyd said nobody involved with the films had contacted her about her portrayal<\/a>, saying: \u201cI could have really told them great stories.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney has thrown his full support behind the upcoming Beatles biopics, but said that there is one&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69,1629],"class_list":["post-630427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}