Sir Paul McCartney has shared his one objection to Paul Mescal playing him in Sir Sam Mendes' Beatles movies.
The Hey Jude hitmaker admitted he was frustrated by Sam Taylor-Johnson's 2009 biopic Nowhere Boy - which followed his late bandmate John Lennon's early years - because he felt the height difference between Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Aaron Taylor-Johnson made him look "wimpy", so he was keen for the dynamic not to be echoed in the upcoming four-film cinematic event.
Speaking to Amy Poehler on her Good Hang podcast, McCartney said: “We were all the same height, and Ringo was a bit smaller. And if you look at photos, we’re all the same height.
"[In Nowhere Boy], the John character, who she later married, Aaron - he’s bigger than me in the film.
“My character is kind of wimpy. Smaller than John. John knocks me to the floor. And it’s like, ‘Sam, this is not true!’
“Her only explanation, bless her, ‘cause she’s still a good friend, she said, ‘This is a movie, it’s not a documentary.'
“And I thought, ‘Mm. Well, I don’t like that explanation.’ But I couldn’t do anything, ‘cause by now she’d made the film. There was I, little Paul. John, the great big hero, and it’s like: No! It’s not true.”
McCartney then admitted he had reservations when he heard Mescal had been cast alongside Harris Dickinson as Lennon in Mendes' upcoming project, and he messaged the director to voice his concerns.
He said of Mescal: “Guess what? He’s smaller than the guy who plays John. Sam Mendes is making the film. I said, ‘Sam, I’ve got just one thing that I need to say to you. You know, Paul [Mescal is] a bit smaller’ - I don’t know how Sam’s gonna deal with it.
“He sent me a picture, a still from the filming they were doing, and they’re crossing the Abbey Road crossing, and the Paul character is markedly smaller.
“I texted him, ‘Sam! Smaller? Don’t do this! You said you wouldn’t do it.’”
However, the filmmaker was quick to try and appease the 84-year-old music legend.
McCartney recalled: “He said, ‘No, it’s okay, it’s just the stride pattern.’ And he sent me another one where they were equal."
Despite the reassurance, Mescal is listed as being 5'11", similar to McCartney's height, but Dickinson is reportedly 6'2".
The Fab Four will be rounded out in the movie series by Barry Keoghan as Sir Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as the late George Harrison.
Mescal revealed earlier this year that he was "thrilled" to be portraying McCartney as it is providing him with some "stability" after a whirlwind few years since his breakthrough role in the TV series Normal People.
The 30-year-old actor told Variety earlier this year: "To be honest, I can say very little - actually contractually [about the films], but also I’m kind of keen to say very little about it, because I’m excited that people want to know so much about it.
"I think the endeavour is totally singular. The four of us inside it are pinching ourselves."
Mescal added: "On a personal level, I’m so thrilled to be working on something at this scale, but also rooted in performance with Sam and great writers.
"But also just to be living and working in London and to have some sort of stability in what has been like a kind of mad six, seven years since Normal People came out.
"I don’t want to get into the Beatles thing, not coyly, but actually because I think the world hopefully will benefit from knowing as little as possible going into it. We’re a while away from finishing. That’s my job for all of 2026."]