Emerging British actress Mia McKenna-Bruce has joined Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event in the role of Maureen Starkey, first wife of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, who will be played by Barry Keoghan, sources have confirmed to Deadline.
Reps for Sony declined to comment. Word of McKenna-Bruce’s casting follows our reporting yesterday that Saoirse Ronan has boarded as Linda McCartney, the first wife of Paul McCartney. The cast of the four Beatles films — each telling the story of a different member of the band — also includes Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. McKenna-Bruce would naturally feature prominently in Starr’s film, though it’s unknown to what extent she’ll appear in the others.
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Starkey was a Liverpuddlian who left convent school by her early teens to become a hairdresser. She first met Ringo Starr at the Cavern Club, a small venue where The Beatles played, and married him in February 1965. She had three children with him, though the couple divorced in 1975. Starkey fell ill in 1994 with a leukemia diagnosis and passed away that same year, aged 48. Paul McCartney wrote the song “Little Willow,” from 1997 album Flaming Pie, in her memory.
We were first to report on the Beatles films from Mendes, all of which will be released in theaters in April 2028. Mendes will direct from scripts written by Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne, as we told you first, though it’s unclear which projects each is tackling. A collaboration between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, the films will be produced by Mendes, Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor of Neal Street, as well as Alexandra Derbyshire, in association with Apple Corps for Sony Pictures.
This marks the first time that The Beatles and Apple Corps Ltd. have authorized the use of the band members’ life stories and music in scripted films. In addition to distributing, Sony Pictures is the financier of the projects.
A BAFTA Rising Star Award winner, McKenna-Bruce broke out with the Cannes-premiering How to Have Sex. Upcoming, she’ll be seen in projects including the Claire Denis film The Fence, Netflix’s Agatha Christie adaptation The Seven Dials Mystery, and ITV/Britbox series The Lady.
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