Beatles: the detail in Mendes' upcoming films that made Paul McCartney react: "Don't do it!"

Paul McCartney supports the project of the four films about the Beatles directed by Sam Mendes, but one detail from the shoot prompted him to send the director an unmistakable message: “Don't do it!”. The reaction was triggered by a photo of the recreation of the famous cover of “Abbey Road”: in the image, Paul Mescal, who plays him, looked distinctly shorter than Harris Dickinson, cast as John Lennon.
McCartney recounted the amusing episode during Amy Poehler's podcast “Good Hang”, explaining that the four Beatles were all roughly the same height. “Guess what? He looks shorter than the actor playing John!”, he remarked. “I don't know how Sam's going to handle it… He sent me a photo of the shoot on the Abbey Road zebra crossing and Paul's character is noticeably shorter.”

Poehler suggested the difference might be down to bare feet, just like in the original 1969 shot. McCartney, however, had already asked Mendes for an explanation and received reassurance: “It's all fine, it's just down to the stride.” To put his mind at ease, the director then sent him another photo in which the two actors appeared to be the same height. The musician added that he'd had a similar issue with his own depiction in “Nowhere Boy”, the 2009 film about Lennon's youth.

The curious "telling-off" of the director doesn't change his support for the cinematic project. McCartney had already welcomed the choice of Mescal, calling him “very cute”, and the two had sat down together for an interview to mark his new album “Boys Of Dungeon Lane”.
Mendes's four films are due in cinemas in April 2028 and will tell the Beatles' story through the point of view of each member. Alongside Mescal and Dickinson will be Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. The project is the first about the band to enjoy the full backing of Apple Corps and the surviving Beatles, as well as access to the group's music rights. The cast also includes Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd, and Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey. Not everyone involved in the band's story has shown the same enthusiasm. Jane Asher, McCartney's partner from 1963 to 1968, has said she has no intention of watching the films. Pattie Boyd, meanwhile, complained that she hadn't been contacted by the production: “I could really have told them some fantastic stories.”

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