Overview

Beatles Biopic Casting Controversy refers to viral discourse, memes and jokes about the casting choices for Director Sam Mendes's The Beatles, which he has described as a "Four-Film Cinematic Event." The biopics are comprised of four different films, each focusing on a member of the legendary pop band The Beatles.

The casting for the film was announced in late March 2025 and includes Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. Several internet users reacted negatively to the film's casting announcement, raising concerns about how casting familiar and established faces may be distracting and how none of the actors were from Liverpool. Several internet users described Barry Keoghan in particular as "chopped," saying that he did not resemble Ringo Starr and that his supposed filler-induced "pillow face" would distract from the story.

Background

During the Las Vegas CinemaCon on March 31st, 2025, Director Sam Mendes announced that he would be releasing four Beatles biopics in theaters in April 2028. The director also announced his casting for the film, stating that Paul Mescal will be starring as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.^[1]

News of the casting was shared to Twitter / X on March 31st as well, as seen in posts by the X accounts @DiscussingFilm^[2] and @PopBase,^[3] gathering over 28,000 and 100,000 likes, respectively, in two days.

On March 31st, X^[4] user @lyddothekiddo quoted a post about the casting by @PopBase, writing, "They were right, casting agents are literally just looking on Instagram," and gathering over 140,000 likes in two days.

Online Reactions

More internet users weighed in with their reactions to the casting for the film as it spread online, including X^[5] user @peachyphus, who shared an image on April 1st, 2025, of actors Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzman playing the Beatles in the 2007 film Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. The post read, "ironically less of a face match than them," and gathered over 11,000 likes in a day.

Also on April 1st, X^[6] user @hairball1952 suggested that actors and comedians Seth Myers, John Mulaney, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen be cast as the Beatles instead, gathering over 44,000 likes in a day.

Later on April 1st, 2025, X^[7] user @AlsikkanTV joked, "APRIL FOOLS they’re actually going to be apes," in reference to the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, gathering over 35,000 likes in a day.

Some internet users began posting satirical casting announcements, as seen in an April 1st @Poo_Crave^[10] post that reads, "Mikey Madison has reportedly been confirmed for the role of Yoko Ono in the upcoming Beatles biopics." The post gathered over 33,000 likes in a day.

Some internet users took particular offense to Barry Keoghan's casting as Ringo Starr, with X^[9] user @cloudharrisonn writing, "#notmyringo" on April 1st, gathering over 30,000 likes in a day, and X^[8] @monetdoII writing, "since when was barry this chopped omg…..," gathering over 100,000 likes in the same timeframe.

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References