Did You Know Three of the Four Beatles Had Irish Roots?

Despite the swell of national pride many felt upon seeing two of our own starring in such a huge film, there were also many who wondered whether this was an April Fools’ joke, given the day of the announcement. Now, 24 hours later, it would appear not, with the full line-up being as follows: British actor Harris Dickinson, known for starring in Triangle of Sadness and Where the Crawdads Sing, will play John Lennon, while another British actor Joseph Quinn, best known for his roles in Stranger Things, A Quiet Place: Day One and Gladiator II, will play George Harrison. Paul Mescal, who broke out as a megastar for his portrayal of Connell Waldron in the adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel Normal People, will play Paul McCartney, while Barry Keoghan, of The Banshees of Inisherin and Saltburn fame, will play Ringo Starr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by SonyPicturesIE (@sonypicturesie)

What We Know About the Films

This biopic is unique in that it will be four separate films, representing each of the four members of The Beatles. The films are also all expected to be released at the same time; the current release is set for April 2028 – we’re surprised they aren’t dragging them out, but I guess we are already going to be waiting for three years before we ever see so much as a snippet.

The Irish Connection

Already the line-up has somewhat come under fire. Where Mescal and Keoghan are concerned, some might question why two Irish actors would be cast at all? Well, as we’re only too proud to point out at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, three of the four Beatles have Irish heritage – although funnily enough, Ringo Starr, who Keoghan will portray, is not one of them. Paul McCartney and George Harrison had Irish grandparents on their mothers’ sides, while John Lennon had Irish great-grandparents on his father’s side – this was a point of pride for the musicians, and they often referred to Ireland and their heritage throughout their careers. When the band played Dublin in 1963, Lennon declared, “We’re all Irish!”

In 1971, shortly after the Troubles began, Paul McCartney’s band Wings recorded ‘Give Ireland back to the Irish’. When the BBC banned it, the band responded by releasing a children’s nursery rhyme ‘Mary had a little lamb’. Around the same time, John Lennon and Yoko Ono also wrote ‘The Luck of The Irish’ and ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’, which they sang at protest marches around the world. Profits from both songs were given to the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement.

Lennon also began to discuss his Irish roots more, describing his hometown of Liverpool as an Irish place. In 1851, after the Great Famine, the bustling seaport had the world’s fourth highest population of Irish people – after Dublin, Cork and Belfast. 22% of the city’s population was Irish born. “It is where the Irish came when they ran out of potatoes,” Lennon once said.

So, the Irish roots were as strong with the band as they were embraced. We can see no real issue with Mescal and Keoghan, who herald from Maynooth and Dublin respectively, starring in such roles. But the deeper criticisms might point to a different reason why their casting was maybe not appropriate, and it has nothing to do with them being Irish.

Casting Stars vs Unknowns

Much of the noise on social media is that they have decided to cast four actors who, at lowest, are up and coming, and highest, are on track to become some of the biggest stars of their generation, with Oscar nominations already behind them. Given that The Beatles were four unknown Liverpudlians before achieving superstardom, it’s being argued why would they not have given this opportunity to four relatively unknown actors, and give them the same career trajectory, because anyone starring in four different films that focus on a band as iconic and global as The Beatles, is bound to achieve a similar level of exponential success.

However, biopics rarely go down the route of choosing someone at the beginning of their career. Look at any of the recent ones – Austin Butler, and then Jacob Elordi in a separate film, as Elvis Presley, Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, most recently Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. So impressive was his performance, he earned an Oscar nomination for it and took home a prestigious SAG award. Yes, Robbie Williams opted for a CGI monkey to play him in his biopic, but that was… rather unusual, and almost a marketing tactic in and of itself, whether that was the intention or not.

While undoubtedly this film would have received incredible hype regardless of who they cast, we’re as always just delighted to see two of our own flying the flag for Ireland. Given the career trajectory of other biopic stars, we’re hoping that there might be at least two Irish nominations for Best Actor at the 2029 Oscars.

The Beatles feature within EPIC in our Music and Dance Gallery, and we sell their LPs both in-store and online. You can check them out here.

Header image via Instagram / Sonypicturesie