Paul Mescal ‘doesn’t want to be seen again’ until Beatles filmsPaul Mescal is playing Sir Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles filmsPaul Mescal is playing Sir Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles films(Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Paul Mescal wants to step away from the limelight until the press tour for The Beatles films ramps up. The actor is playing Sir Paul McCartney in the four film cinematic event from Sir Sam Mendes.

The films are scheduled for release in April 2028 and the actor has said he wants to ration his workload in a new interview. The 29-year-old has two films, Hamnet and The History of Sound, being released this month and said his growing list of film credits has come at a personal cost.

In a new interview in The Guardian, he said: “I’m five or six years into this now, and I feel very lucky. But I’m also learning that I don’t think I can go on doing it as much.”

When asked if he is rationing himself, he said: “I think so. I’m gonna have to start doing that. For sure. Rationing doesn’t necessarily mean less.

“It means learning that films like The History Of Sound take more out of the well. You can’t keep going back and expect to consistently deliver something you’re proud of.”

The Irish actor plays Lionel in the film which follows his character’s relationship with David (played by Josh O’Connor) after the pair meet in 1917 at the New England Conservatory, and following WWI, before travelling together to record folk songs in rural Maine in winter 1920.

He added: “What that (career) rationing looks like, I don’t know. I miss being on stage, so I might have a time when I’m only doing theatre for a couple of years. I also have different priorities in my personal life that I want to attend to.

“I don’t want to resent the thing I love. This sounds bold, but I’d rather not be on the train if that is the choice.”

Paul, who is also promoting Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, about William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, played by Irish actress Jessie Buckley, as they manage the grief of losing their son, added: “Once I’ve finished promoting that, I hope nobody gets to see me until 2028 when I’m doing the Beatles.

“People will get a break from me and I’ll get a break from them.” The Beatles four film cinematic event is an ambitious project that will tell the lives of each of the Fab Four.

In addition to Paul, Barry Keoghan has been cast as Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.

The ECHO spoke to Gladiator II and Aftersun star, Paul, and the Irishman was loving his time in the city. The Normal People star was quizzed on why he was in the city, but remained tight-lipped on the reasons for his stay.

He told the ECHO: “I’ve been here a few times before, and we’re having the best time here, yeah it’s great.”

However, fans were speculating online, as it’s almost certain the actor’s trip to Liverpool had something to do with the upcoming biopics on The Beatles.

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