Mia McKenna-Bruce says Sam Mendes’ Beatles films are ‘absolutely next level’

Actress Mia McKenna-Bruce is set to play Ringo Starr’s late wife Maureen Starkey in Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, and she certainly sounds excited by the project.

She tells Variety that her experience on the project so far has been “absolutely next level,” noting that a read through with the cast was “really emotional, because the scripts are so beautiful.”

The films star Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo. McKenna-Bruce says the first time she saw them in their roles she didn’t recognize them, noting, “it was phenomenal.”

“They’ve done it beautifully in getting it bang on for the Beatles, but still holding on to the essences of the boys themselves as well. They’re all genius,” she continues. “And the boys have gone tenfold into playing these roles and know them inside out and back to front — they will question everything in the scripts to make sure it tells the right story. And Sam knows everything there is to know about the Beatles.”

As for what she’s learned about her character, McKenna-Bruce says Maureen was “loved by all the Beatles boys.”

“If she went into a room or party, she’d be the person that would go over to whoever was sat on their own — she wanted to make everyone felt included and was just a really good human,” she says. She adds that Maureen preferred to stay at home and “stayed out of the Beatlemania.”

And while McKenna-Bruce isn’t allowed to say much more about the films, due out in April 2028, she wishes she could.

“I just cannot wait for people to see this, because I really need to scream about it,” she says.

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