Aimee Lou Wood is reportedly in talks to play Pattie Boyd in director Sam Mendes’ upcoming Beatles biopic project — a four-part cinematic event that promises to tell the story of the Fab Four like never before.
The White Lotus star is said to be circling the role of the 1960s icon, while Shōgun Emmy-winner Anna Sawai is being lined up to portray Yoko Ono, the avant-garde artist and lifelong muse of John Lennon. Though neither deal is finalised, both actors are understood to be in active discussions, according to Variety.
If confirmed, Wood would star opposite Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, while Harris Dickinson takes on John Lennon, Paul Mescal plays Paul McCartney, and Barry Keoghan steps in as Ringo Starr — giving the project a distinctly Irish presence at its heart. Saoirse Ronan is also attached, set to play McCartney’s first wife Linda, while Mia McKenna-Bruce joins as Starr’s first wife Maureen Starkey.
The project, which Mendes is developing with Sony Pictures, is being described as “the first binge-able theatrical experience.” Each film will focus on one band member’s perspective, with their stories interlocking to chart the Beatles’ meteoric rise from Liverpool to global fame — and their eventual breakup in 1970. All four instalments are due to arrive in cinemas in April 2028, marking the first time the Beatles’ estates have collectively authorised a dramatization of their lives.
Speaking earlier this year, Mendes said: “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.”
The casting of Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd — one of the most recognisable faces of London’s Swinging Sixties — would mark a significant new step in her career. Boyd, a model and photographer, first met George Harrison on the set of the Beatles’ 1964 film A Hard Day’s Night when she was just 19. The pair married in 1966, and she went on to inspire some of rock’s most enduring love songs, including Harrison’s Something and Eric Clapton’s Layla. She and Harrison divorced in 1977, and she later married Clapton two years later.
Reacting to rumours of Wood’s potential casting, Pattie Boyd recently posted on social media that it was “big news”, adding that she was “looking forward" and "hoping to meet [Aimee] at some point in the future.”
At 31, Aimee Lou Wood has quickly become one of Britain’s most distinctive screen talents. She shot to fame as the unapologetically funny yet tender Aimee Gibbs in Netflix’s Sex Education, appearing across four seasons from 2019 to 2023. The role earned her a BAFTA Television Award, and her performance opposite Bill Nighy in the 2022 film Living further solidified her reputation as a rising dramatic talent. Most recently, Wood joined the cast of The White Lotus Season 3, earning her first Emmy nomination earlier this year for her turn in the hit HBO anthology.
Meanwhile, Anna Sawai, 33, has emerged as one of the most acclaimed Japanese actors working internationally. She first gained attention in the Apple TV+ series Pachinko before her breakout performance in FX’s Shōgun, which earned her an Emmy Award for Lead Actress — the first ever for a Japanese performer. Sawai will next appear in David Leitch’s action thriller How to Rob a Bank and Jeremy Allen White’s upcoming crime drama Enemies.
With Mendes at the helm — and the full cooperation of the surviving Beatles, McCartney and Starr, as well as the families of Lennon and Harrison — the four-part project has already become one of the most anticipated music biopics in recent years.
And for Irish audiences, the combination of Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan and Saoirse Ronan alongside rising global stars like Aimee Lou Wood and Anna Sawai gives this ambitious reimagining of Beatlemania a distinctly homegrown touch.
