Four more cast members are getting added to Sam Mendes‘s ambitious Beatles biopics, including Harry Lawtey, Farhan Akhtar, Lucy Boynton, and Morfydd. The group joins the massive undertaking from Sony and Neal Street, titled The Beatles – A Four Film Cinematic Event. Production on Mendes’s four-film Beatles biopics is currently underway with a projected release date of April 2028.

Who are the new cast members?

According to reports, Harry Lawtey (Industry, The Pale Blue Eye, Joker: Folie À Deux) will play Stuart Sutcliffe, also known as “The Fifth Beatle,” and the band’s original guitarist, who left the band in 1961. He sang on the track “Love Me Tender,” which, according to some, didn’t sit well with Paul McCartney. Complaints about Sutcliffe’s lack of stage presence continue to circulate, but the band’s first drummer, Pete Best, says talk about Sutcliffe playing with his back to the audience is exaggerated.

Farham Akhtar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Ms. Marvel, Don: The Chase Begins Again) will play Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitarist who had George Harrison’s ear and is credited with introducing Indian instruments into the Beatles’ music.

Lucy Boynton (Sing Street, Bohemian Rhapsody, Murder on the Orient Express) will play British actress Jane Asher, who was McCartney’s fiancée. Asher had captured McCartney’s heart, inspiring songs like “And I Love Her,” “We Can Work It Out,” “You Won’t See Me,” “I’m Looking Through You,” “What You’re Doing,” “Things We Said Today,” and “For No One.”

Finally, Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud, Crawl, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) portrays Cynthia Lennon, the first wife of John Lennon and mother of Julian Lennon. Cynthia and John were inseparable until John’s use of LSD became a cause for concern. Oh, and let’s not forget John’s love affair with Yoko Ono. Yikes!

Sam Mendes embraces a massive undertaking

Sam Mendes is hard at work on The Beatles — A Four Film Cinematic Event, which stars Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) as John Lennon, Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn (The Fantastic Four: First Steps) as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) as Ringo Starr.

This is the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and the members of the Beatles—Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison—have granted the whole life story and music rights for a scripted movie. Mendes will direct all four films, each focusing on a separate band member. Jez Butterworth (Ford v Ferrari), Peter Straughan (Conclave), and Jack Thorne (Adolescence) are writing the scripts.

Who else stars in Mendes’s Beatles biopics?

The films also star Saoirse Ronan (Little Women) as Linda McCartney, James Norton (Happy Valley) as Brian Epstein, Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) as Maureen Starkey, Anna Sawai (Shōgun) as Yoko Ono, Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus) as Pattie Boyd, Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones) as George Martin, David Morrissey (The Walking Dead) as Jim McCartney, Leanne Best (Carnival Row) as Mimi Smith, Bobby Schofield (Knightfall) as Neil Aspinall, Daniel Hoffmann-Gill (The Sandman) as Mal Evans, Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) as Derek Taylor, and Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog) as Allen Klein.

I have such fond memories of the Beatles and their music. My first real exposure to them was the band’s Red Album, The Beatles (1962-1966). My cousin played the best-of collection on repeat on our way to a white-water rafting trip, giving me a first-hand education in their swingin’ hits and timeless boppers. I never looked back after that day.