The Beatles biopics could have forged their John, Paul, Harry and Ringo, nonetheless numerous British stars auditioned for the coveted roles – and Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield was certainly one of them.
The 29-year-old has revealed that he went up for the function of George Harrison in The Beatles – a sequence of 4 movies with every specializing in one of many band’s iconic musicians. Stranger Things and Gladiator 2 star Joseph Quinn was ultimately cast as Harrison, with Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson taking part in John Lennon, Hamnet’s Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
In an interview with The Times, Butterfield admitted that he was all for taking part in the late Harrison. “I did audition for George Harrison,” he mentioned.
When requested whether or not he was shortlisted for the function, Butterfield shrugged: “Who knows? I play bass, which was Paul’s instrument.”
He then sounded “wistful”, in accordance to the publication, as he mirrored on shedding out on the job. “There are roles that you really, really want,” he mentioned.
“But I find something else comes up and you do another job which you wouldn’t have been able to do.”
It’s not the one high-profile function he’s confronted rejection for; Butterfield was within the operating to play Spider-Man forward of the franchise’s third reboot, however the function finally went to Tom Holland.
“I’m pretty good at moving on,” he mentioned. “You have your audition and after that it’s out of your hands. If you’re not the right person, there’s nothing you could have done differently. Sometimes it’s easier than others.”
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Sony, which is producing the 4 movies, announced the long-awaited cast for the biopics in April final 12 months, with director Sam Mendes teasing that the discharge would be the “first binge-able theatrical experience”.
The movie later revealed the celebs who’ll play the main women within the Fab Four’s lives, with Aimee Lou Wood, Saoirse Ronan, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Anna Sawai as Pattie Boyd, Linda McCartney, Maureen Starkey and Yoko Ono, respectively.
Speaking about changing into Boyd for the venture, Wood mentioned that it’s “quite intimidating” as “everyone knows these people”.
“I’ve gone and done my fittings with my blonde hair and my blue eyes. I’m really stepping into a different person. We look like them… so it’s kind of trippy,” she advised The Standard in March.
Her Sex Education co-star Butterfield could not have made it into the Beatles movies, however he’s stored busy because the Netflix present resulted in 2023. He starred in 2025 drama Our Hero, Balthazar final 12 months, adverts for Uber One alongside Robert De Niro and Netflix’s new psychological thriller Unchosen.
