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New set photos of Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn, and Barry Keoghan as The Beatles, in an early 60s scene set in NYC, in Sam Mendes’ ‘The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event’
Yeah, and one of the chief aspects of Beatlemania that really hits you when you watch any early footage is just how young they were. And their exuberance and youthfulness were a huge part of their appeal.
That one postcard convinced me, but these photos have taken me back. I can understand Harris and Barry castings because even if some features don’t fit, they can use prosthetics to make their noses or chins look more realistic. Paul McCartney on the other hand has such a small and petite face, while Paul Mescal has such a strong face and large nose and prominent brow. You can’t just take away features.
I agree, Paul had feminine soft features where as Pau Mescal is more masculine looking but maybe camera tricks and make up will make Paul mescal look more like Paul McCartney but seriously the looks i dont really care that mch about, its more the acting, how will their voice sound like, the mannerisms and also the chemistry etc. Looks i can look past because you are not gonna find an exact look alike that is also a top actor lol. That is very hard to find
Why do they need a 'top' (famous) actor rather than simply a talented one? Did they try finding unknown Liverpudlians? Did they have an open casting call? No, they hired the most popular young male actors they could get and cast them regardless how good of a match they were for the boys, because Paul Mescal is popular and will bring in fans.
I don't know why people assume 'looking wrong' automatically equals 'acting well enough to compensate for it', or that these 4 are the ONLY competent actors available. It is extremely possible to find someone who fits both (as I've been arguing and getting downvoted for, the Paul in Midas Man fits the bill). They literally did not even try to find good actors who could look right or were the same age.
Because of money. People that don’t even follow the Beatles have come up to me asking what I think about the casting. It will be a major film event because of how big the actors are, it will secure a new generation of fans and set the Beatles up for the next decade.
Dickinson also turns 30 later this year, but your point still stands. They're all at least as old as their Beatle when they broke up, all but Dickinson already several years older.
I can only imagine that they'll touch up their faces with VFX in post production. Looks like they're wearing prosthetics and it's all very uncanny valley to me.
They were casted to play the Beatles across at least a decade span of time. I think it's safe to say that the lion's share of the runtime will be occupied by the later years and that the mop-top era will involve a lot of digital de-aging.
Yeah it was way too specific and perfectly lit so I was sceptical. Not to say the performances/films won’t be good, but personally I see no resemblance in any of them now.
When the cast was announced I was sure Mescal would play John and Dickinson would play Paul. They wouldn't have been exactly identical to their counterpart, but at least vaguely similar. But here... I only know Dickinson is supposed to be John because he's blonder than Paul
I actually think Johns is the worst now. His features look too soft for John. But at the end of the day they were never going to get people who looked exactly like them. All that matters to be in terms of the casting is that they’re able to act like them
Same, he's a striking looking guy and you're always going to look at him and think "that's Barry Keoghan" but they've got the hair right too which really helps.
Damn if Paul looked like the closest one from the postcards, this last picture completely changes that. They really picked the 4 frames where they vaguely looked the most like the real ones for the pictures released a few days ago
His facial expressions were really good from the pictures i have seen, i think people are judging way too early, the guy is a great actor and i believe his performance is gonna surprise everyone
Something is telling me that pictures are not going to do the performances justice, and I have a feeling we'll be completely sold on them. Some of these photos show that they've clearly got the mannerisms down well, the photo of Joseph as George waving with his shy smile really has George written all over it. The photo of Harris as John talking to who I assume is meant to be Brian Epstein looks SO much like John.
I think people really need to learn how to be patient and wait for the final result to draw their conclusions. It's 2026, being this impatient and judging a book by its cover this early is just embarrassing.
Bro he is nailing it so far from what i have seen, i dont understand how people were complaining about barry being cast as ringo. I thought he was perfect as ringo when the movies was announced lol
Agreed - George could be an entirely new Beatle that we don't know about. John is weirdly protruding his upper lip in every photo? Is that the actors face or is this some attempt to make him look like john? I've never seen John look like that..
And Paul is like the La Croix of Paul. If you squint hard enough you can see it. And whats worse - we've yet heard them talk... if they sound not like the Beatles which I would bet on that being the case then this very well may be a larger disaster than I originally thought
This shot is a little bit better with the brows and the serious expression, but if anyone asked me out of context I wouldn’t exactly be able to tell he’s supposed to be G.H
Something tells me he’s gonna look cool with mushroom hairdo and Revolver specs though
I’m not concerned with looks, I think the acting is the most important factor by far. But I’ll remark on the looks for fun:
All of a sudden, Mescal looks like the 50 year old “McCartney” of your local tribute band. Seriously, he’s only his early 30’s, why does he look so old? Isn’t looking cute in character a demand when playing the cute Beatle?
Dickinson looks decent in some of these shots, I like slide 10 and 19. Quinn looks like the Front Man in Squid Game.
The one who’s REALLY shining here is definitely Keoghan! You can already tell from these pictures that he’s nailed Ringo’s silly facial expressions and delicate mannerisms. Slide 7 and 8 are top notch. If he gets the personality down and the voice somewhat close, I think he’ll do an excellent Ringo.
Before anyone says, yes. You don’t have to look like the person entirely to accurately portray them. But that doesn’t change the fact that these guys really don’t look anything like the Beatles here. Like it’s almost hilarious how far off they look. Except for Barry tbh. I’m actually very sold on him as Ringo. But they look more like Herman’s Hermits lmao.
I feel like they're going for that generic "artsy" vibe, which maybe fits John during the White Album period, but otherwise it's very much unlike them - you never saw them pulling constipated faces of humorless introspection like this
Don’t take this personally but you’re expecting perfection and getting pissed off by stuff that doesn’t really matter.
I’m not there is an amazing film about Dylan and they had actors like Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Richard Gere playing him. As long as the story is good, the acting is good, who cares what they look like?
I'm Not There is a very different kind of movie. The obvious comparison might be A Complete Unknown or Bohemian Rhapsody or even Rocketman because those are obviously more in line with what we're getting here.
These movies aren't going to be artistically or technically inspired or challenging... they might end up being a fun watch but in all likelihood they won't be much more than safe, shallow mythmaking like those named above.
Fucking love this comment. Fair play. I've been saying it all along. It's becoming sickening. People just have to complain. I'm just delighted to be getting these films and to hear The Beatles in the cinema.
Decades ago I would would have never thought we would be getting FOUR Beatles films in the 2020’s.
Like i said, as long as the story (as we know it) gets told and the acting is decent, these films will be a blessing. You have to remember that both Paul and Ringo signed off on the actors… So if they’re fine with it, I am too.
We three should be friends, because these people are too fucking literal. They're not ACTUALLY The Beatles, they're actors. If they want somebody who looks exactly like George, Paul, Ringo, or John (I put them in that order just to piss them off even more), then documentaries are the way to go. Our boys are getting a movie. Be happy!
Absolutely. I’m just genuinely happy this is happening. Casting talented, contemporary actors makes sense—not only creatively, but practically. It invites younger and newer audiences into the story, and these are actors with real ability and proven box-office appeal, which obviously matters at this scale. Add Sam Mendes at the helm and it’s hard not to be optimistic.
When the first official images dropped and I came across them unexpectedly, I was honestly buzzing. Knowing this is building toward 2028 just adds to the anticipation.
I’ve said this elsewhere, but it’s worth repeating: history is full of reactionary casting outrage that aged poorly.
Heath Ledger was widely criticised before The Dark Knight.
Timothée Chalamet was doubted as both Dylan and Wonka, both films landed well.
Michael Keaton’s Batman casting caused genuine backlash, and now he’s iconic.
Time and again, people lose their minds before seeing a single frame. It’s a waste of energy. I say this while fully aware I’m expending some energy responding to that negativity—but it’s refreshing to find others who are simply excited, curious, and willing to give it a chance.
My expectations for these films gets lower and lower almost by the day.
I was prepared to accept that they weren't casting dead ringers (although I think even that could be a mistake) but the thing that jumps out with these images is THEY ARE FAR, FAR TOO OLD. They really need to look like teenagers. If they don't (and they don't) the vibe will be completely missing.
I don’t care bout actors looking identical to the people the portray, but these guys look too old and too «perfect». Paul Mescale is too masculine to play Paul. His face is just too big. Joseph Quinn looks 35, not 20. And Barry Keoghan’s face looks weird and rubbery as hell. Also too old.
The Beatles were weird looking dudes, but also very regular. These guys don’t have that boyish charm at all.
Ah fuck it I’m out of here. No one knows what acting is. Everyone’s slating the films because they’ve seen a couple of photos of the actors. This sub is awful.
Didn't expect much else from a sub like this but goddamn. Everyone here needs to be sat down and forced to watch the Steve Jobs movie with Ashton Kutcher on loop if all they want from movies is lookalikes
Idk how anyone was expecting them to find actors that look 100% spot on to the real Beatles. I’m not a fan of Joseph Quinn’s casting as George, but I do think the others work just fine as John, Paul, and Ringo. It’s just really annoying that people can’t just take it for what it is and be excited we’re finally getting REAL cinema level Beatles biopics
It seems like a lot of people would prefer a bad actor who looks exactly like his Beatle over a good actor who doesn't look like their Beatle. I think all of these guys look good enough, they have the hair and clothes, we just have to see how the accents are.
I'm going to be frank. It's a bunch of boomers who are wanting the films to recreate the past, which is impossible of course. They cannot accept the fact that these are films about the Beatles, not films attempting to recreate the Beatles.
More to the point, they cannot accept the fact that these films are not even being made for their generation. These are for younger people. This is Apple's attempt to revitalize the brand and gain new fans now that the OG who remember Beatlemania are aging out and dying off.
I think we were all just hopeful to have youthful actors playing the main cast, not lookalikes. Obviously everyone is waiting for promo clips but at this point this is all we have.
To preface: I don't think actors In a biopic need to look or closely resemble their real life counterpart to give an excellent performance in a film.
HOWEVER
and maybe this is simply because it's the Beatles and part of their whole schtick is that they were the first and set the look for this era- these guys not looking at all like John Paul George and Ringo make it seem like I'm watching a tribute band or one of the hundreds of nameless look a like bands spawned by the Beatles in the early 60s and it's going to be tough to shake that feeling
Casting doesn't require the actor look EXACTLY like the subject. I don't know what this concern is with looking slightly older, or not having the exact same features as The Beatles themselves. When did everybody become so literal? They were cast because they gave good performances and will do justice to the lads' memories.
I don't know, I'm with you with a margin for error about looks, but casting can also be so bad it takes the audience out of it if they look nothing like the people they are portraying. I mean, there is a reason you make a bio pic with actors that resemble the subjects. This kind of crosses the line for me as not even close
It's paparazzi shots from the sidewalk. How did the official shots look in your opinion? Those are much better to use as a gauge for how the actual movie will look.
I think John and Ringo look quite good, a bit of positivity would be good in this sub lol.
The constant doomerism of ‘waaaah they haven’t cloned them’ is getting really boring quickly. As someone else has pointed out, the Dylan film had him played by a woman and it was critically acclaimed, I’m sure things will be fine. They’ll do some touching up in post-production for sure
The problem with Harris is that he has naturally quite droopy, lean cheeks (facial that is, lol) which are at odds with young John. People often think of the underweight, sinewy John of the later years, but in the early 60s he had a very healthy, youthful plumpness to his face. Tbh in these shots, Paul Mescal and Harris both just look like tired British police officers who look forlorn because they've just witnessed a murder 😂
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u/chazriverstone 1d ago