“Saltburn” star Barry Keoghan shouldn’t take too many drum lessons if he’s preparing to play Ringo Starr in the upcoming Beatles biopic — and that’s coming from the drummer, himself.
The “Don’t Pass Me By” singer told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday that rumors of Keoghan portraying him in Sam Mendes’ four-part movie series are just “great.”
“Well, I think it’s great. I think he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many,” Starr shared. “You gotta let them get their own feel. I did a MasterClass, and we were talking about, ‘You know, I’m not asking you to play like me, but you have to have this movement that you can do this stuff.’”
Sony’s project is the first to be approved by Starr and Paul McCartney as well as the families of George Harrison and John Lennon. Each film in the four-part series will focus on one member of the band, with the rest acting as supporting characters.
Mendes will also produce the films alongside his Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor. Jeff Jones will executive produce for Apple Corps Ltd.
The movies will also be Mendes’ first entry into music biopics. “I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,” he said in a prior press release.
The cast has not officially been announced, but EW also reported that Paul Mescal (as McCartney), Harris Dickinson (Lennon) and Joseph Quinn (Harrison) are also rumored to be attached.
