Latest news with #TheFabFour
Sunday World
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Paul Mescal says comparisons of new film with ‘Brokeback Mountain' are lazy
As Kildare actor showcases new gay role at Cannes Film Festival, he says 'The History of Sound' focuses on love, not repression John Lennon, whose half-sister would prefer Liverpool actors to play The Fab Four. Photo: Getty John Lennon, whose half-sister does not want Paul Mescal to play Paul McCartney. Photo: Getty Paul Mescal at the premiere of his latest film 'The History of Sound' at the 78th Cannes Film Festival. Photo: Reuters Actor Paul Mescal has rejected comparisons of his new period romance The History of Sound with gay cowboy classic Brokeback Mountain, saying the only thing they have in common is the characters spend time together in a tent. The History of Sound, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, stars Mescal and Josh O'Connor as Lionel and David, who meet at the Boston Conservatory in the early 1900s and fall in love over their shared love of folk songs. However, the couple are separated when David is drafted into World War I. After the war, they reunite to hike across Maine in search of oral-tradition songs to record, with the adventure having a profound effect on both men later in life. 'I personally don't see the parallels at all between Brokeback Mountain, other than the fact that we spend a little bit of time in a tent,' Mescal (29) told journalists at Cannes. Variety described the new film as 'Brokeback Mountain on sedatives', while The Guardian said it was 'a quasi-Brokeback Mountain film whose tone is one of persistent mournful awe at its own sadness' and gave it two out of five stars. There should be more films about the sort of dynamics and the nuances of queer relationships Mescal rejected the comparisons as lazy and frustrating, saying the focus of the film, unlike Ang Lee's 2006 Oscar winner, was a celebration of the characters' love rather than repression. South African director Oliver Hermanus, who was nominated for a Bafta for 2022 film Living, said that comparing his film with one that came out 20 years ago showed there was a deficiency. 'There should be more films about the sort of dynamics and the nuances of queer relationships, of relationships that are beyond the context of what most movies probably deal with,' he said. Mescal – who previously played a gay character in the heartbreaking romantic drama All of Us Strangers opposite Andrew Scott, before his Hollywood turn in Gladiator II – said his attraction to such roles was based on instinct. 'I personally celebrate actors who lean into their artistic compulsion, and if that's what I'm about to do at this moment in my career, I'm going to just hopefully pursue that for a little while longer until that compulsion changes,' he said. Meanwhile, Mescal's role as Paul McCartney in a series of films to be made charting the rise and lives of The Beatles has come in for criticism from John Lennon's half-sister. John Lennon, whose half-sister would prefer Liverpool actors to play The Fab Four. Photo: Getty Mescal will star alongside Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan in a quartet of films about The Fab Four being made by Oscar-winner Sam Mendes. In an interview with MailOnline, Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird expressed her disappointment that the director did not decide to use actors originally from Liverpool. Mescal is from Co Kildare and Keoghan is from inner-city Dublin, while Dickinson and Quinn are from London. When the casting was announced, many Beatles fans complained about the actors, who they said bore no resemblance to the Fab Four. Now Lennon's sister has spoken out to back up their criticisms. It will be interesting to see what kind of accent he comes up. Nobody can do a Liverpool accent. They all get it wrong 'What's wrong with Liverpool?' she asked, suggesting the producers should have chosen unknown local actors for whom these could have been breakthrough roles. 'We have actors, and they speak the language. Paul Mescal is in everything – get real, come on,' Baird said. 'There are more actors out there waiting for a go and for a chance. 'It will be interesting to see what kind of accent he comes up with, because nobody can do a Liverpool accent. They all get it wrong.' Each of the four films will focus on a different member of The Beatles, with Mendes claiming they would all be released in cinemas within a month of each other.
The Independent
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
The actors who will play The Beatles: Inside the new Fab Four
Irish actors Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan, and British stars Harris Dickinson and Joseph Quinn are set to portray The Beatles band members in four upcoming films. Each of the movies will showcase one of the members of The Fab Four, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and be directed by British filmmaker Sir Sam Mendes. They are expected to be released in April 2028. Here we take a closer look at the actors: – Paul Mescal ( Sir Paul McCartney) The Co Kildare star, 29, who is the son of a member of the Irish police force and a teacher, played Irish football when he was young, before appearing on the stage. He shot to stardom during the pandemic for his role in BBC miniseries Normal People, based on the novel of the same name by Irish author Sally Rooney, as love interest Connell Waldron in the BBC mini-series. He has continued to mark out his place within the industry following his starring role in 2022 coming-of-age film Aftersun, which earned him Oscar and Bafta nominations for best actor as a father struggling with his mental health while on holiday with his daughter. His appearance in romantic fantasy film, All of Us Strangers, alongside Irish actor Andrew Scott has garnered him further recognition and a British Independent Film Award for best supporting performance. Mescal also won an Olivier Award for a stage adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire, before going on to star in Gladiator II, directed by Sir Ridley Scott, as an arena fighter who tries to bring down two maniacal emperors. He plays Lucilla's (Connie Nielsen) grown-up son from the first movie, which starred Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius, who ends up in slavery after the murder of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. – Barry Keoghan (Sir Ringo Starr) Keoghan has been outspoken about his difficult childhood in Dublin, which saw him grow up in foster care and his mother die after struggling with drug addiction. The 32-year-old actor has received praise for his role in The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, and The Banshees Of Inisherin, both opposite Colin Farrell, and starred in blockbuster Marvel film Eternals with Angelina Jolie. He was nominated for a Rising Star Award in 2019, before going on to receive two further Bafta nods for the Irish crime drama Calm With Horses, and black comedy Saltburn. He picked up the best supporting actor prize for his role in Martin McDonagh-directed The Banshees Of Inisherin, a movie about two friends falling out, at the 2023 ceremony. Keoghan also received nominations for the role from the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. His scenes in Saltburn went viral when at the end of the film Keoghan is seen dancing naked around a luxury manor to Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Murder On The Dancefloor. Keoghan also recently starred in drama Bird, and rural Irish thriller Bring Them Down, and will next appear in Netflix's film of hit series Peaky Blinders opposite Oscar winner Cillian Murphy. – Harris Dickinson (John Lennon) The 28-year-old Londoner's debut film role was in US-set 2017 movie Beach Rats as a young man struggling with his sexuality, earning him an Independent Spirit best actor award nod. He soon picked up roles in Danny Boyle's series Trust, playing kidnapping victim John Paul Getty III in the drama opposite Hollywood heavyweights such as Donald Sutherland and Hilary Swank, and earned a 2022 Rising Star Bafta nod. Dickinson's next roles included in Disney fantasy movie Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil as a prince, and action movie The King's Man with Ralph Fiennes. He has also opted for more absurd movies, including the Palme D'Or-winning Triangle Of Sadness, which saw him play a struggling model who ends up on a doomed luxury cruise, and he played a wrestler in The Iron Claw. His other film credits include The Souvenir Part II, alongside Tilda Swinton and her daughter, Honor Swinton Byrne, thriller Where The Crawdads Sing, and comedy Scrapper. For many recent filmgoers, he is also known for being in Babygirl, playing a young man who seduces a businesswoman, played by Nicole Kidman in the 2024 erotic thriller. Dickinson was also recent Bafta nominated for the upcoming TV awards for FX mystery series A Murder At The End of the World for supporting actor. – Joseph Quinn (George Harrison) The Londoner, 31, joined Stranger Things for the fourth season as Dungeons & Dragons enthusiast Eddie Munson, after having appeared in an adaptation of E M Forster's Howards End, and Dickensian, about various Charles Dickens characters, on the BBC. Quinn has also starred in alien invasion movie A Quiet Place: Day One, a prequel to the films A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2020), and appeared in hit HBO series Game Of Thrones, along with historical Sky drama Catherine The Great with Dame Helen Mirren. Quinn was also cast as one of the two feuding Roman emperors and brothers in Gladiator II, portraying the less mad Geta opposite Fred Hechinger as the unstable Emperor Caracalla. Hechinger previously said they were inspired by comic characters Beavis and Butthead in their portrayals of the brothers. Quinn will next be seen in Marvel movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps, opposite Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. He will portray the brother of Sue Storm (Kirby), otherwise known as the Invisible Woman, Johnny – The Human Torch – who can control flames.
