Barry Keoghan has built one of the most unpredictable careers of his generation, moving from the unnerving quiet menace of The K****** of a Sacred Deer to the heartbreak of The Banshees of Inisherin and the chaotic glamour of Saltburn. He has always felt like an actor drawn toward characters with bruised souls and restless energy, which he will now pour. Now, that same intensity is taking him into rock history as he steps behind the famous sunglasses and drum kit of Ringo Starr in Sam Mendes’ ambitious The Beatles project, which he feels is no different from the indie gigs he likes to litter between his bigger, commercial ventures.  

For an actor who once said he messaged directors directly because he loved their work, joining a four-film saga about the most influential band in modern music almost feels surreal. Yet Keoghan is already describing the experience less like a giant studio machine and more like the kind of intimate filmmaking space where actors can still chase emotional truth.

Speaking to Deadline, Barry Keoghan shared fresh insight into The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the interconnected project directed by Sam Mendes that will tell The Beatles' story through four separate perspectives. 

“It’s going incredible. Again, and it’s such a big family out there, and it’s such a big movie, but it has that indie soul to it, where I’m feeling super safe to reach and bring forward the most vulnerable truths and the most… Just really dig deep with the performance as Ringo,” Keoghan expressed.  

He has always thrived in emotionally raw films that blur the line between discomfort and vulnerability. Mendes’ Beatles project already carries enormous expectations, especially with Paul Mescal playing Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson portraying John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn taking on George Harrison. The four films are currently slated for release in April 2028. 

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That instinct to chase emotionally fragile characters is also what keeps pulling Keoghan back toward auteur-driven cinema and festival spaces like Cannes. 

While Barry Keoghan is preparing for Beatlemania, he is also back at the Cannes Film Festival with Butterfly Jam alongside Riley Keough. Directed by Kantemir Balagov, the family drama is set around an East Coast Circassian community and marks the director’s first English-language feature after the acclaimed Beanpole. The project is also the first feature involvement from Keoghan’s Wolfcub Productions and will open the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes. 

The film follows a teenager named Pytch who balances wrestling ambitions with working at his family’s struggling diner in Newark. After a reckless decision by his father changes everything, the story turns into a tense exploration of masculinity, family legacy, and survival. Along with Keoghan and Keough, the cast includes Harry Melling and Monica Bellucci.

From indie Irish dramas to playing one of music history’s most beloved drummers, Barry Keoghan continues to choose projects that feel emotionally fearless rather than predictable. 

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Share your thoughts on Keoghan’s Ringo Starr casting and whether The Beatles films could become the next great music biopic event.