Barry Keoghan is opening up about his awkward first meeting with Beatles legend Ringo Starr during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Director Sam Mendes is putting together an ambitious series of four interconnected biopics on each member of The Beatles, which confirmed the cast at CinemaCon in April.
The 32-year-old Irish actor revealed he met the legendary drummer for the first time recently as he admitted the meeting was ‘just one of those moments where you’re just in awe,’ adding he ‘froze’ upon meeting him.
Kimmel asked if the actor was ‘studying’ the musician, when he revealed Starr’s reaction to the star-struck actor.
‘When I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous. Like right now. But he’s like, you know, “You can look at me,”‘ Keoghan revealed.
The Irish actor added, ‘It was just sort of — again, it’s — you’re playing Ringo Starr. My job is to observe and take in all kind of mannerisms, you know, studying.’
Barry Keoghan is opening up about his awkward first meeting with Beatles legend Ringo Starr during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live
The actor admitted meeting Starr (pictured in 2016) was, ‘just one of those moments where you’re just in awe,’ adding he ‘froze’ upon meeting him
‘I want to know — I want to bring forward like a — I want to humanize and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate,’ Keoghan admitted.
He added of the meeting with Starr, ‘He was absolutely lovely. You know, just sat in the garden, chatting away.’
Oddly enough, it was Starr, 84, himself that broke the news in an interview with Entertainment Tonight back in late November, months before the confirmed cast of Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney), Joseph Quinn (George Harrison) and Keoghan (Starr) was announced.
The project was first announced in February 2024, with Sony Pictures teaming up with director Sam Mendes and Apple Corps, the company founded by The Beatles in 1968.
The project will mark the first time ever that Apple Corps, the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, plus McCartney and Starr, have granted full life and music rights for a scripted film.
The project will span four films – one on each member of The Beatles – which will ‘intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history.’
Mendes will direct all four films, which will collectively be called The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event,’ described as the, ‘first binge-able theatrical experience.’
All four films will be released in 2028, though specifics about the release plan have not been revealed quite yet.
Oddly enough, it was Starr, 84, himself that broke the news in an interview with Entertainment Tonight back in late November, months before the confirmed cast of (left to right) Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney), Keoghan (Starr) and Joseph Quinn (George Harrison) and was announced.
‘When I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous. Like right now. But he’s like, you know, “You can look at me,”‘ Keoghan revealed
‘I want to know — I want to bring forward like a — I want to humanize and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate,’ Keoghan admitted
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, comprising Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr.
They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form.
The Beatles’ last commercial gig took place at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California.
They then performed live for the last time on the roof of their Apple Corps headquarters in London on January 30, 1969, before John decided to leave the band.
John was shot dead at the age of 40 in 1980, by crazed fan Mark Chapman outside his home in New York City, while George died in 2001 after a battle with cancer.
The project will mark the first time ever that Apple Corps, the families of John Lennon and George Harrison, plus McCartney and Starr, have granted full life and music rights for a scripted film.
Since the band’s inception, there have been a total of 18 Beatles biopics on the big and small screen, including 1994’s Backbeat, which focused on guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe, and 2009’s Nowhere Boy, about Lennon’s childhood.
In 2021, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson launched the eight-hour, three-part Disney+ series Beatles Get Back.
Jackson, who served as director and producer, was given 60 hours of film footage and 150 hours of audio stemming from the original Let It Be film, which chronicled the making of the album of the same name that was released in May 1970.
Meanwhile, Keoghan was promoting his new film with The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow – which hits theaters May 16 – on Jimmy Kimmel Live Wednesday.