Saoirse Ronan has been cast as Linda McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopic, according to reports, alongside Paul Mescal, who will be portraying the music legend Paul McCartney. Deadline revealed that the four-time Oscar-nominated actress has signed a deal to play the keyboardist in the four-part film series by Sam Mendes. Linda was Paul's first wife and was the first female photographer to have her work on the cover of Rolling Stone. Linda was also a musician and animal rights activist, working alongside her husband as part of his band Wings in his post-Beatles career. An advocate for vegetarianism and animal welfare, Linda launched her own food company, Linda McCartney Foods, in 1991 before she sadly died from cancer in 1998, age 56.
As for the rest of the Fab Four, Harrison Dickinson is playing John Lennon, Joseph Quinn will portray George Harrison and Barry Keoghan is cast as Ringo Starr. Additional cast members have yet to be announced.
© Getty ImagesA viral moment
Saoirse's casting comes after she and Paul went viral following their appearance on the Graham Norton Show last year. During the appearance on the BBC chat show, where the Irish duo appeared alongside Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington, the Day of the Jackal actor recounted being told to use his phone as a weapon while learning self-defence. Unimpressed, actor Paul laughed off the idea and said: "Who is actually going to think about that?" But Saoirse was quick to respond with: "That's what girls have to think about all the time." The blunt remark was met with a huge round of applause from the audience. The moment went viral on social media shortly after the programme ended. See the moment in the video below.
Talking about the moment on Patrick Kielty's Late Late Show, Paul said: "I'm not surprised that the message received as much attention that it got because it’s a massively important." Praising his friend, Paul added: "She's quite often — more often than not — the most intelligent person in the room, and I think she was spot-on, hit the nail on the head. And it's also good that messages like that are gaining traction. That’s the sort of conversation we should be having on a daily basis."
© Prime/ShutterstockSaoirse and Paul are incredibly close friends, so no doubt the pair will make for a convincing husband and wife duo. This also won't be the first time the actors will be playing on-screen lovers. In 2023, the couple starred in Foe, playing a young couple, Hen and Junior, who are having marital issues when Junior is called to serve on a space station.
