Beatles Paul McCartney biopic casts Oscar nominee as Linda McCartney

The forthcoming Beatles movies have reportedly cast Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney in Sam Mendes’s forthcoming biopics on the iconic band.

The Oscar-nominated Irish actor is in line to play Paul McCartney’s former wife in the four films, which have already cast Gladiator II star Paul Mescal as Paul.

According to a report, multiple sources have confirmed that Ronan will be playing Linda in the biopics, although the film’s distributors have yet to confirm the announcement.

The Independent has contacted Sony for comment.

Skyfall and 1917 director Sam Mendes will make the four movies, in which Mescal will be joined by Harrison Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.

Additional cast members, including the wives of the other band members, are yet to be announced.

Linda and Paul married in 1969 and later collaborated musically in post-Beatles band, Wings. She died from cancer in 1998, aged 56.

open image in gallery

Mendes, who has been developing a story about the Fab Four for years, revealed the films will premiere in April 2028, describing the release strategy as the “first binge-able theatrical experience”. However, the exact release date for the four films is yet to be confirmed.

“I’ve been trying to make a story about The Beatles for years,” he said after the cast announcement earlier this year.

While the Beatles’ rise to fame has been well chronicled over the years, “I can assure you that there is still plenty to explore”, said Mendes, who won an Oscar for American Beauty.

The four films will be released “in proximity” to each other, he said. "Frankly, we need big cinematic events to get people out of the house."

Both McCartney and Starr, as well as the families of the late Lennon and Harrison, have granted the film’s permission to tell full life stories of the respective musicians as well as the rights to their songs, making these the first biopics to be authorised by The Beatles themselves.

open image in gallery

Ronan, meanwhile, is best known for her roles in dramas Atonement (2007), Brooklyn (2015), Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019) all of which earned her Academy Award nominations.

The 31-year-old, who is married to Slow Horses star Jack Lowden, more recently starred in 2024 indie drama The Outrun and Steve McQueen’s Second World War film Blitz.