The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event has cast its first non-Beatle character. The unprecedented presentation will be an interlinked series of four movies directed by Sam Mendes, with each focusing on a different member of the iconic British Invasion rock group.
The cast of the Beatles movies includes Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
Per Deadline, four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has joined The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event in the role of Linda McCartney. This marks the first character to be cast who isn’t one of the core four members of The Beatles.
Ronan is a celebrated actor who has earned Academy Award nominations in three different decades despite only being 31 years old, thanks to her work in the movies Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women. She is also known for her roles in Hanna and The Lovely Bones.
This will not be the first time that Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal have played onscreen love interests. The actors, who are both Irish, previously portrayed husband and wife duo Hen and Junior in the 2023 science fiction drama Foe.
While it is possible that she will appear in all of the four Beatles biopic movies, Ronan’s role will most likely be most prominent in the Paul Mescal-led McCartney movie, as Linda McCartney was Paul McCartney’s first wife. Born Linda Louise Eastman, the multitalented artist first met McCartney in 1967 while on assignment in London as a photographer.
The couple eventually married in 1969 and remained together until her death from breast cancer complications in 1998.
In addition to her work as a photographer, Linda McCartney was a musician who is best known for her work as the keyboardist in Wings, a band that she formed with Paul McCartney, Denny Seiwell, and The Moody Blues’ Denny Laine in 1971, shortly after the breakup of The Beatles.
One of Wings’ best-known songs is the title track from the 1973 James Bond movie Live and Let Die.
Given the fact that Linda Eastman met Paul McCartney more than half a decade after The Beatles were first formed, it remains to be seen how much she is featured in the Paul Mescal movie.
However, because she was one of the first roles cast in the entire project (even before major “Fifth Beatles” such as the band’s manager Brian Epstein, their original bassist Stu Sutcliffe, and John Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono), it seems highly likely that Linda McCartney will be a key figure in The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event.