Ben Schwartz added to cast of The Beatles biopics
The cast for Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event just got even bigger with the addition of Ben Schwartz.
While the four films have been in production for many months now, it has now been confirmed that the Parks and Recreation actor will portray the New York-based radio host Murray the K, whose real name was Murray Kaufman, per Variety.
Kaufman first met The Beatles in early 1964, and during that chapter of their career, as Beatlemania was sending America into a state of hysteria, he found his way into the Fab Four’s inner circle, a position which was reserved for a select few.
Although Kaufman wasn’t an omnipresent figure across every step of The Beatles’ career, that first US trip was a landmark moment in their journey, which changed their trajectory, and seemingly, will feature heavily in Mendes’ interpretation of their story.
It’s still just under two years to go until we’ll finally see the set of four films, which will star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, which are set to arrive in cinemas simultaneously in April 2028.
However, earlier this week, it emerged that the four films won’t simply be the same story told through the lens of a different protagonist.
Adam Pally, who is playing the Fab Four’s former manager Allen Klein, shed some light on the project to The Direct in a recent interview, explaining, “I will try to answer in the most allowed way possible, but I would say that they are totally different.”
Pally elaborated, “The way The Beatles were individually, totally different, and the movies reflect each Beatles’ tone, in a way.”
He also suggested that they can be enjoyed as stand-alone movies, adding, “They all go together beautifully, and then they also are all individually perfect in that way, you know.”
With the addition of Schwartz, the cast is bursting at the seams with highly respected names, also featuring Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd, McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey, and Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono.
Meanwhile, former Industry star Harry Lawtey will play Stuart Sutcliffe, who was the band’s original bassist before leaving in 1961, James Norton will portray The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, and Farhan Akhtar will bring Ravi Shankar to the screen.
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