Mumbai: Paul McCartney is tired of looking shorter than John Lennon in every single film about the Beatles. He argues that they were the same height. In fact, the legendary singer even complained about this to director Sam Mendes, who is currently shooting four new films about the Liverpool band.
The issue came up on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, when she asked McCartney who the tallest Beatle was.
“We were all the same height,” he responded.
McCartney said that he, Lennon and George Harrison were roughly the same height, while Ringo Starr was slightly shorter.
“And if you look at photos, we’re all the same height,” he insisted.
He has had this problem since the 2009 film Nowhere Boy, which was about Lennon’s teenage years. Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Lennon, while Thomas Brodie-Sangster played McCartney.
“My character is kind of wimpy, smaller than John. John knocks me to the floor,” McCartney said, recalling Sam Taylor-Johnson’s musical drama.
He told Poehler that even then he had complained to the film’s director about his portrayal.
“It’s like, ‘Sam, this is not true.’ And her only explanation, bless her, because she’s still a good friend, you know, she said, ‘This is a movie. It’s not a documentary,’” he said.
But McCartney wasn’t convinced, “There was I, little Paul, you know, John, the great big hero. And it’s like, no.”
Now it’s happening all over again with Mendes’ 2027 four-part cinematic event.
The 61-year-old English filmmaker is directing four Beatles biopics, one for each member of the band, with Paul Mescal playing McCartney and Harris Dickinson playing Lennon. Joseph Quinn will play Harrison and Barry Keoghan will play Starr.
And McCartney has spotted the same problem.
“Guess what? He’s smaller than the guy who plays John,” he said on the podcast.
Mendes had sent him a photograph from filming, showing the actors walking across the famous Abbey Road crossing. McCartney thought Mescal looked noticeably shorter than Dickinson.
“And you can’t put lifts on that bare feet,” he joked, referring to the original Abbey Road album cover, in which he’s barefoot.
So he texted Mendes: “Sam, smaller. Don’t do this. You said you wouldn’t do it.”
Mendes replied that it was just the way the actors were walking, and sent another photograph in which they appeared to be the same height.
The four Beatles films are scheduled to be released in April 2028.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)