Off the top of your head, do you know who Paul Mescal is? What if I said he is the guy from “Gladiator II?” Do you know who Joseph Quinn is? He plays Eddie Munson on “Stranger Things.” Do you know who Barry Keoghan is? He dated Sabrina Carpenter. What about Harris Dickinson, do you know who he is? He’s Nicole Kidman’s costar “Babygirl.” If you do not have a Letterboxd or IMDb account, I would not expect you to know who these actors are. The four men were recently announced to play The Beatles in their four-part biopic series and the public had mixed reactions to the casting.
Every casting announcement seems controversial nowadays, especially surrounding biopics. There are complaints from both sides: those wanting unknown actors to get discovered and those wanting recognizable movie stars to fill the roles. Many complaints regarding The Beatles casting argue that casting unknowns is a lost art. Not to say that unknown actors are bad, but would you prefer to take the risk of bad performances when casting a legendary band, or have guaranteed capable actors playing them? Those who would prefer to give an unknown actor a chance at the spotlight argue against this, and the cycle goes on forever because then people argue that the problem with casting unknowns is that people will not see the movie unless a big name is attached.
While I agree that Mescal and Quinn have become more well-known as of late, I would not consider them “movie stars.” Some people are acting like they casted people with Tom Cruise-level status for the film. Despite being an Oscar nominated actor since 2023, Mescal has received the bulk of his fame from starring in “Gladiator II.” Now that he’s classified as an “internet boyfriend,” and is plastered all over pop culture news, it’s likely that people are not sick of seeing him in movies, they are just sick of seeing him in general.
Quinn has been booked and busy, so it is more understandable why people think of him as more of a “movie star” name. He gained traction playing Eddie in 2022, and by spring of 2026, he will have been in “A Quiet Place: Day One,” “Gladiator II,” “Warfare,” “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and “Avengers: Doomsday.” I still do not think that his rise in popularity is reason enough for there to be discourse against him being cast. With his studded filmography, we must put his recurring presence aside and trust he that will put on a great performance.
Despite also being Oscar nominated for his performance in “The Banshees of Inisherin” and starring in “Saltburn,” in the same year, Keoghan has a newfound celebrity status because of his relationship – and recent breakup – with pop star Sabrina Carpenter. Once again, we are only seeing a lot of him because of his relationship, not recent movies.
I would argue Dickinson is the closest to “unknown” status. He has less than one million followers on Instagram and is only recognized for a movie he was in less than a year ago. Anyone that is not on the film side of X or follows casting closely would not know him by name. People only think they are seeing a lot of him because the biopic announcement came just as his hype from “Babygirl” was dwindling.
I think this is a perfect time in each of their careers to have these biopics in the works. All four films are set for April 2028 releases. Who knows where these actors will be by then and if these movies will give them a needed career boost at the time of release. Either way, promotion and production will guarantee that we’ll be constantly reminded of these films right up until they release, so we will not be seeing any less of these actors any time soon.
