by Sam Mendes’ upcoming biopics on The Beatles have expanded with the casting of Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey, Ringo Starr’s first wife.
The drummer met Starkey, born Mary Cox, as a teenager before Starr had achieved worldwide success with The Fab Four, and they were still regularly performing at the Cavern Club in their shared native Liverpool.
The couple went on to marry in 1965, and had three children together, including former The Who drummer Zak Starkey, before eventually divorcing a decade later. She died in 1994, aged 48, due to leukaemia.
McKenna-Bruce, a past recipient of the Bafta ‘Rising Star’ award, has now been confirmed to bring Starkey’s story to the screen, according to Variety. The report comes a day after Saoirse Ronan was confirmed to play Linda McCartney.
McKenna-Bruce had previously been linked to the role of Starkey, along with The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood being rumoured to play Pattie Boyd; however, the latter remains unconfirmed.
Rather than being a stand-alone movie, Mendes is directing a set of four biopics on the Fab Four, which will all be released in April 2028. Each film will focus on a different member of the group, and has been described by Sony as “the first binge-able theatrical experience”.
Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan has been cast as Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn rounds out the Fab Four as George Harrison.
Last month, Mescal revealed he had met McCartney “a couple of times”, before adding, “I adore him. I think he changed the world.”
He also said of his preparation for the role, “It would just be crazy to not play it left-handed, you know?” he explained. Mescal continued, “You’re like, ‘Nah. I like [McCartney] a lot, but I don’t love him.’ That would be the messaging if I didn’t play left-handed. And he’s the fucking coolest man on planet Earth, I think.”
