Ringo Starr has strong opinions about how he’ll be portrayed in the four upcoming Beatles biopics.
The musician, 84, told The New York Times on Wednesday, July 2, that he spent two days with the director, Sam Mendes, and offered “extensive notes” on the script.
Starr noted that he had feedback surrounding his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett, explaining that the original script didn’t necessarily showcase how they acted in reality.
“He had a writer — very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,” Starr told the outlet. “That’s not how we were. I’d say, ‘We would never do that.’”
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The former couple married in 1965 and had three children together — Zak, 59, Jason, 57, and Lee, 54, — before divorcing in 1975.
According to The New York Times, Starr is now content with the way he’ll be portrayed on screen after going through the script line by line and sharing his feedback with Mendes.
In March, it was officially confirmed that actors Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Harris Dickinson and Joseph Quinn are on board to portray the four members of The Beatles in Mendes’ quartet of movies.
Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Dickinson will play John Lennon, Keoghan is set to play Starr and Quinn will play George Harrison. (Lennon was murdered at age 40 in 1980, while Harrison died of cancer at age 58 in 2001.)
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in May, Keoghan, 32, revealed what it was like to meet Starr as he gears up to portray him.
The actor told host Jimmy Kimmel that he met Starr at his home, and during the talk show, he divulged how nervous he was during the meeting.
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“It was sort of one of those moments where you’re in awe and you’re just frozen,” Keoghan said.
Kimmel questioned whether Keoghan was watching Starr play the drums during the visit to his house.
“Yeah, I was. … And when I was talking to him I couldn’t look at him,” Keoghan admitted. “I was nervous, like right now. He said, ‘You can look at me.’ And again — you’re playing Ringo Starr. My job is to observe and take in kind of mannerisms and study, but I want to humanize him and bring feelings to him, not just sort of imitate him.”
Meanwhile, Starr previously revealed he was looking forward to the new films, which are expected to drop in 2028.
“I’m excited that [Mendes] has taken the madness of making four movies at the same time,” the drummer told People in May.
