Ringo Starr thinks "it's great" Barry Keoghan is reportedly playing him in upcoming biopic

English musician, songwriter, and drummer for the Beatles, Ringo Starr had some news to share about a new Beatles biopic. He claimed that Oscar-nominated Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan will be playing the drummer in the upcoming movie. The 84-year-old talked about it with Entertainment Tonight's Kevin Frazier on Saturday, November 23.

"I think it's great. I think he's somewhere taking drum lessons," Starr said.

The reported Beatles biopic starring Barry Keoghan is part of a four-part biopic project by director Sam Mendes. He shared his excitement for the project in a statement, per Entertainment Weekly in February 2024.

"I'm honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies," he noted.

Rolling Stone reported in March 2024 that the Skyfall director has signed to work on four separate Beatles biopics, and it's reportedly coming out all at once in 2027. The production of the movies will allegedly start next year, and each movie will focus on a single Beatles band member's perspective— thereby including biopics for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

---

Ringo Starr doesn't want Barry Keoghan to take "too many" drum lessons for the biopic

Elsewhere in his interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ringo Starr shared some tips for The Banshees of Inisherin star Barry Keoghan, who will reportedly play him in a biopic. After mentioning that Keoghan might be somewhere taking drum lessons for the movie, he added:

"I hope not too many."

Ringo Starr explained that musicians only need to get the basics down. After that, he suggested that they find their own groove, which is a lesson he shares not only with Keoghan but also with other aspiring drummers.

"You gotta let them get their own feel... I did a MasterClass, and we were talking about, 'You know, I'm not asking you to play like me, but you have to have this movement that you can do this stuff," he added.

While there are no names confirmed for the casting of the project yet, the names of several actors to play the other Beatles band members have floated around. Paul Mescal addressed the rumor that he's in the running to play Paul McCartney in a biopic in a GQ interview in October 2024. While the Gladiator II actor admitted that nothing is confirmed, he's eager to be part of the project.

"I would love to be involved, but there's nothing set in stone," Mescal said.

Harris Dickinson is another name coming up for actors set to play John Lennon, but he shares the same sentiments as Mescal. In his interview with Dazed in November, the Where The Crawdads Sing star said:

"There's nothing I can say about that; it might not be true, it might be, I don't know... there's a speculation culture."

As for Barry Keoghan, if he's confirmed to play Ringo Starr in the biopic, he will join the list of actors who've played the Beatles drummer onscreen, including Paul Duck worth in Backbeat, Paul Angelis on Yellow Submarine, and Jason Schwartzman in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.