The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr said he sat down with Sam Mendes to go over and change parts of the script for the filmmaker's forthcoming biopic of him.
The Oscar-winning director has announced plans to make four separate movies about the biggest band in history, one from the perspective of each member.
It was revealed earlier this year that Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison, Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr, and Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon.
In a new interview, Starr detailed how he spent two days with Mendes to go over the script “line by line” for his film and gave him “extensive” notes to ensure depictions of him and first wife Maureen Starkey Tigrett were accurate.
“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 New York Times. “That’s not how we were. I’d say, ‘We would never do that.’”
Starr added that he was satisfied with his depiction now and sent Mendes “peace and love”.
Starr met Tigrett in 1962 and they married in 1965 but divorced a decade later in 1975. They had three children – former Oasis drummer Zak Starkey, son Jason, and daughter Lee. Tigrett died in 1994 from leukaemia.
Keoghan shared in May that he had spent time with Starr at his home to prepare for the film and observe the musician’s mannerisms.
The Saltburn star described the nervous interaction, saying: “He played the drums for me. He asked me to play, but I wasn't playing the drums for Ringo. When I was talking to him, I couldn't look at him. I was nervous, like right now. But he's like, ‘You can look at me,’” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “My job is to observe and kinda take in mannerisms and study him. I want to humanise him and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate.”
Despite the nerve-racking situation, Keoghan said Starr was “absolutely lovely” during their time together.
Mendes, who has been developing a story about the Fab Four for years, said the films will premiere in April 2028, describing the release strategy as the “first binge-able theatrical experience”.
“I’ve been trying to make a story about The Beatles for years,” he said.
Mendes is producing all four films along with Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor. In May, it was reported that he had got award-winning writers Jez Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow), Peter Straughan (Conclave) and Jack Thorne (Adolescence) to join the biopics.
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