When Barry Keoghan walked into Ringo Starr’s garden for what should’ve been a relaxed pre-role hangout, things got SURREAL.
Imagine prepping to portray one of the most iconic drummers in music history, and then being ASKED by that very legend to hit the kit! “He played the drums for me,” Keoghan revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, eyes wide with disbelief, “and then he asked me to play. But I wasn’t playing the drums for Ringo.”
What followed was a quiet, nerve-wracked moment under the sun: one that didn’t go viral but just might define Keoghan’s take on the famously chill Beatle.
Keoghan admitted the meeting was pure awe: “When I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous. But he’s like, ‘You can look at me.’” That brief exchange (the warmth, the human vulnerability, the silent permission) might explain why Keoghan isn’t just mimicking Ringo.
He’s FEELING him.
Barry Keoghan isn’t playing Ringo Starr; he’s becoming him
Barry Keoghan’s casting as Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes’ ambitious Beatles cinematic quadrilogy raised eyebrows.
But the moment Starr himself basically leaked the casting with a cheeky dig (“Barry is somewhere doing drums. I think he should stop and not do anymore,” he quipped), all doubts were erased. There’s clearly a trust here. And Mendes knows that trust between subject and actor is gold.
From his Oscar-nominated turn in The Banshees of Inisherin to his more visceral work in Saltburn, Keoghan has proven he thrives in uncomfortable emotional terrain. His Ringo will be less about mop-tops and quippy one-liners and more about what it felt like to be the “quiet Beatle” in the world’s loudest band.
As Keoghan himself said, “I want to humanize and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate.”
The Beatles biopics are unlike anything we’ve seen before
Let’s talk scope. Sony Pictures and director Sam Mendes are going full cinema-nova with The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, a revolutionary storytelling experiment told from each member’s point of view. Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) as John Lennon. Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things) as George Harrison. Paul Mescal (Gladiator II) as Paul McCartney.
And of course, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
All four films will be released in close proximity in April 2028, making it what Mendes dubbed at CinemaCon (via CNN) a binge-worthy big screen moment. Sony has secured full access to The Beatles’ music and life stories, allowing the cast to go and take a plunge into authenticity.
This isn’t just a rock star biopic. This is mythmaking with nuance. And if Keoghan’s bashful-but-tender moment in Ringo’s garden is any indication, we’re in for a performance that trades bombast for beating heart.
