John Lennon’s sister criticises casting of The Beatles biopics
Julia Baird, John Lennon‘s half-sister, has criticised Sam Mendes for not casting Liverpudlians in his upcoming set of The Beatles biopics.
Last week, the four actors chosen to bring the Fab Four’s story to the big screen were revealed at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. After months of intense speculation, it was confirmed that Harris Dickinson is Lennon, Paul Mescal is Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn is George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan is Ringo Starr.
Despite each member of The Beatles coming from Liverpool, Dickinson and Quinn are from London while Mescal and Keoghan are Irish, which Baird has criticised.
In a new interview with The Telegraph, Baird was asked for her opinion on the casting and whether she believed it would have been better for Mendes to cast local actors from Merseyside as The Beatles. In response, she shared, “Yes, of course. No one else can get that Liverpool intonation. Nobody.”
Baird, who is not in control of Lennon’s estate, also revealed that Mendes is yet to contact her directly about the biopic and explained why she doubts he’ll pick up the phone, adding, “He’s never going to ask me! I’m the last person he would want to talk to because then he can’t make it up.”
Despite Baird not being contacted, Mendes has the full support of McCartney and Starr, the only surviving members of the Fab Four, for the project. Additionally, it has been backed by the estates of Lennon and Harrison.
In the same interview, Baird expressed her disappointment that Lennon ever became a musician, which ultimately led to his death in 1980, stating, “To be John’s sister is a privilege that I couldn’t begin to describe to you. But given the choice, I wish he’d never seen a guitar.” She continued, “Well, then he might have been an art teacher, and he’d still be here.”
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