Jane Asher has said she will not watch the upcoming Beatles biopics, offering a four-word verdict: "I won't watch it." The actress, 80, is portrayed by Lucy Boynton in Sam Mendes' four-film project, due for release in 2028, but has questioned how anyone could capture what she was really like.
Speaking to the Daily Mail's Eden Confidential, she said: "Nobody knows what you were really like. I think it's a funny idea that somebody's going to pretend to be me. I don't know what I'm really like. How are they going to know?"
Jane Asher's reluctance to revisit the past
Jane was approached by the filmmakers but remains unwilling to discuss her relationship with Sir Paul McCartney. She told The Telegraph: "People would offer me money to talk about it, all sorts of things. But I won't discuss it. It was so long ago."
The pair started dating in 1963 and announced their engagement in 1967, splitting the following year amid rumours of infidelity. Their romance inspired songs including 'And I Love Her'. Jane later married Gerald Scarfe in 1981, and they have three children together. Paul has married three times since their split.
Paul McCartney's involvement in the films
While Jane intends to give the films a miss, Paul has been closely involved. The 84-year-old revealed that a picture from filming prompted him to contact Mendes about his character's height, played by Paul Mescal. He told comedian Amy Poehler: "He sent me a picture - a still from the filming they were doing, and they're crossing the Abbey Road crossing. The Paul character is markedly smaller!" After spotting that his on-screen counterpart appeared shorter than John Lennon's, he texted the director: "Don't do this." Paul explained that the four Beatles were roughly the same height, with only Ringo a "bit smaller".
Speaking about his first impression of Mescal, Paul previously said: "He came into this office and I thought, 'Well, I'll show him how to do Blackbird'. So I picked up the guitar and started playing... and he played along exactly! I think he knew it better than I did! It was amazing how studied and how well-educated he was about me. So, yeah, I thought, OK, I'll leave you to it."
Cast and release details
Alongside Mescal, the cast includes Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. Saoirse Ronan will portray Paul's first wife, Linda, who died in 1998. Each film will follow the story from a different band member's perspective.
Mendes announced the Beatles project in 2024, saying: "I'm honoured to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies."
