We’re in for a long wait for the four-part Beatles biopic, currently in the works and set for release in April 2028. But yesterday, Sam Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of the project titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, gave us a teaser for what’s coming up, boy band hair and all.
The interconnected movies star some of this generation’s buzziest actors: Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. In a fun little marketing strategy, postcards offering a first look at the actors as the iconic British band were hidden around a performing arts college in their hometown of Liverpool for students to find. The first-looks show us Mescal, Dickinson, Keoghan and Quinn fully embracing the groovy aesthetic that defined the group.
Across the mammoth filming schedule, the four leads will transform into the instantly recognisable Fab Four: bowl cuts à la Paul, long and flowing hippie tresses for John and George, and the Ringo Starr special shaggy mop-top. A physical transformation is part and parcel of the biopic-sphere and the big awards season swingers: think Timothée Chalamet’s shock of a Bob Dylan ’stache, or Emma Stone shaving her head for Bugonia.
The grooming aspect of the band’s story began with Lennon and McCartney’s polished, forward-fringed mop-tops, inspired by the flattened down hair of French teenagers at the time and cut by friend Jurgen Vollmer. Hairdresser Leslie Cavendish later came on board to start styling the band’s hair, working with them through the ’60s and ’70s to define their sweet but sophisticated look. Paired with suave matching suits, it was instantly appealing to a legion of teenage fans. As the band went stratospheric, their aesthetic shifted in line with the free-spirited cultural movement: post Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it was bye bye mushroom hair, hello sideburns.
Below, a first glimpse:
Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr
Barry Keoghan debuted his own Beatlesmaxxing look at the London premiere of his new film, Crime 101. His mussed-up mop-top hairstyle channels Beatles drummer Starr’s look from the very early days of the band, showing his own natural waves. Out of context, it’s a toss-up as to whether Keoghan is channelling Beatlemania or Bieber fever. Filming began in November, so he’s had plenty of time to grow out the mop, a marked difference from his last public appearance, where he sported a close crop and soft bangs. Respect for committing to the Beatles bit and forgoing the wig.
Harris Dickinson as John Lennon
Babygirl actor Harris Dickinson takes on the role of the late John Lennon. From what we can glean from the low-lit postcard picture, he’s captured Lennon with his extra-long shag, which became his signature look. No full beard just yet, so this is likely Abbey Road and Yoko Ono-era John. In 1970, Lennon shaved his head.
Joseph Quinn as George Harrison
George Harrison’s thick, collar-length hair was always notably much more voluminous than that of his bandmates, so Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn might have had some help from a wig or some well-placed extensions here. With floppy curtains and a centre part, his wavy ’do reflected his countercultural thinking, getting longer and wilder as he embraced spirituality and mysticism.
Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney
Sure, Paul McCartney has cycled through his share of wild mullets and (sometimes fake!) moustaches, but in the annals of pop culture, Sir Paul will always be defined by the bowl cut. Here, we see Hamnet’s Paul Mescal embrace early McCartney, with his forward-brushed bangs and scissor-cut sides. (Mescal has been on the awards season circuit with a remarkably different ’do, so it looks like he opted out of a McCartney-esque cut in favour of a wig.)
