Paul McCartney Called Sam Mendes Over Mescal Height Photo

Paul McCartney rang Sam Mendes after seeing a photo in which Paul Mescal, who plays him, looked markedly shorter than his Beatles co-stars.

McCartney told the story on the Good Hang with Amy Poehler podcast. Mendes had sent him a still of the cast crossing the Abbey Road zebra crossing during filming, Deadline reported on 17 October.

The 84-year-old said Mescal appeared markedly shorter than the actor playing John Lennon. He said he contacted Mendes about it straight away. Mendes told him the difference was "just the stride".

McCartney said he told Mendes not to show him as shorter than Lennon. That exchange was first detailed by Variety on 14 October.

The photo came from a shoot in London in August. The four leads re-created the favourite Abbey Road album cover while filming, walking single file across the crossing outside the famous studios.

Mescal plays McCartney. Harris Dickinson plays John Lennon, Joseph Quinn plays George Harrison and Barry Keoghan plays Ringo Starr.

They lead The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event. Mendes is set to direct each instalment, which is produced through Neal Street Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Each film tells the band's story from the point of view of a different member.

All four films are set to open on 7 April 2028, Variety reported in January. Sony has described the project as "bingeable", according to Reuters. The cast was first presented in Las Vegas in April 2025.

For fans, this means the first glimpse of Mendes's Beatles has arrived as a joke about height and walking pace. The Abbey Road crossing is one of pop's best known images. Seeing four new faces line up there makes the scale of the four-film plan suddenly real.