Barry Keoghan may soon be rocking a mop top, at least if Ringo Starr is to be believed.
The legendary drummer confirmed to “Entertainment Tonight” that the “Saltburn” star will play him in Sam Mendes‘ sprawling look at the Beatles. “I think it’s great,” Starr said when asked for his reaction on Keoghan’s casting. “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many,” he added.
The film, which Sony Pictures is producing, will consist of four separate movies, one from each Beatle’s point of view. For the first time since the group transformed popular music, Paul McCartney, Starr and the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for the scripted films. That’s made casting of the Four Fab a source of endless rumors and speculation. Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Paul Mescal are just a few of the prominent names who have been linked to the project. A source close to the film cautions that there are no deals with any cast yet, so this could all fall apart. Even if Keoghan never gets swept up in Beatlemania, this is the closest we’ve gotten to having an actor officially linked to the project.
Nabbing Keoghan to play the fun-loving drummer would be a real coup. In addition to appearing in the very meme-able “Saltburn,” where he danced naked to “Murder on the Dance Floor” and slurped Jacob Elordi’s dirty bathwater, Keoghan was Oscar-nominated for his turn in Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin.” He also had a maniacal cameo in “The Batman” as a character whose passing resemblance to the Joker seems to set him up for big things to come in the superhero franchise. Apart from terrorizing Gotham, he also starred in Andrea Arnold’s critically acclaimed “Bird.”
Keoghan is repped by WME, B-Side Management, Entertainment 360 and Sloane Offer.