Paul Mescal revives the 'Beatlemania' in Catalonia

BarcelonaFor a few weeks now, Barcelona, Salou, and other Catalan towns have traveled to the past to commemorate the youth of the Beatles. They have become the settings for the filming of the four biographical films that Sam Mendes is directing about the history of the Liverpool quartet. The provisional release date for the tetralogy is April 2028, although Sam Mendes has not clarified if the four films will be released in cinemas at the same time.

But for them to be released in cinemas, they must first be filmed, and this is precisely what the production is doing in Catalonia these days. The protagonists of the four films are Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, and all four have already been seen in Catalonia dressed as the group The Beatles, as shown in some images circulating on social media. Some of the actors have also been seen enjoying their leisure time. This is the case of Paul Mescal, of whom several photographs have surfaced in Barcelona: the Irish actor has been in the Gràcia neighborhood, where he went to Almo2bar, but he also attended Primavera Sound (in this case accompanied by Harris Dickinson) and has walked along Elisabets street, where he went unnoticed among most pedestrians, although a fan spotted him. This follower explains to ARA that she identified him quickly and saw him stop at the tobacconist on Bonsuccés street and continue to a vintage store on Tallers street, where he bought two t-shirts. In fact, this follower asked the actor for a photograph and Mescal agreed without any problem.

In Barcelona, the filming has been concentrated at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, where some of the Beatles' most memorable concerts have been recreated. In April of this year, the casting process began to find extras for the scenes to be filmed at this location: men and women between 18 and 60 years old were sought who did not have visible tattoos or modern hairstyles. Additionally, they had to be available during the months of May and June on intermittent dates. According to what ARA has been able to learn, the filming days at the stadium are long and require a lot of energy from the extras. Although it is not yet official, filming at this location is expected to end this Thursday.

The other focal point of the filming of the four films is Salou, where the four main actors have been seen characterized as their characters. Thus, the photos that have emerged allow us to see Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. The town on the Costa Daurada has become, for a few days, the Miami Beach of 1964, where the Beatles traveled to record their second live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, an event that solidified "beatlemania" in the United States. In the photos circulating on social media, the four characters can be seen waving from a balcony or walking down a street. In addition to the four main actors, James Norton, who plays Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, and Ben Schwartz, who plays DJ Murray the K, one of the first US radio hosts to embrace the British band, have also been seen on set.

The cast of Sam Mendes's four films has generated a lot of excitement, not only for who would be chosen to play the four Beatles but also for which actresses would play the partners they had throughout their lives. Saoirse Ronan plays Linda McCartney; Anna Sawai will be Yoko Ono; Aimee Lou Wood will bring Patty Boyd, wife between 1966 and 1977 of George Harrison, to life; and Mia McKenna-Bruce will step into the shoes of Maureen Starkey, wife of Ringo Starr between 1965 and 1975. Other actresses who will participate in the production are Morfydd Clark who will be Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon's first wife and mother of his first child; and Lucy Boynton, who will bring Jane Asher, Paul McCartney's girlfriend between 1963 and 1968, to life.