Paul Mescal has reportedly been told to lose muscle and put on weight to play Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopics.
The Normal People star, 29, gained 22 pounds in muscle for his role as the beefy Prince of Rome in last year’s action blockbuster, Gladiator II.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Mescal will portray McCartney, with Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison in an ambitious Beatles project.
And sources have claimed Mescal is currently too “ripped” to play Macca in the Sam Mendes-directed Fab Four biopics, which will be released in April 2028.
“Obviously there weren’t really gyms around in the Sixties. The Beatles weren’t dead-lifting between gigs,” an insider told The Sun.
“Macca was always pretty lean and flexible — he has always been really into yoga — but this is a very different aesthetic to that of a burly gladiator, and Paul has been keeping his body pretty ripped, even after filming stopped.”
The source added: “Sir Paul McCartney is also famously a vegetarian, whereas Paul mainly lives on a high protein steak, chicken and eggs diet. There also weren’t whey protein shakes back in the Beatles’ day.”
The Standard has contacted Mescal’s representative for comment.
The Irish actor hired a former Royal Navy personal trainer to help him get in shape to play Lucius Verus Aurelius in Ridley Scott’s Roman epic last year.
He beefed up by training six days a week and eating four meals a day.
The All Of Us Strangers star told Vanity Fair last summer: “I just wanted to be big and strong and look like somebody who can cause a bit of damage when s**t hits the fan.
“I think also, sometimes, one could, in striving for that perfect look, end up looking more like an underwear model than a warrior.
“Muscles start to grow, and that can be deemed aesthetic in certain capacities, but there is something about feeling strong in your body that elicits just a different feeling.”
On Tuesday, Sam Mendes revealed he will release four separate films to explore the lives of each Beatles band member.
Speaking at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, he described the films as the “first binge-able theatrical experience” and revealed filming will last a year.
“The four films will be released in close proximity,” he confirmed. “Frankly, we need big cinematic events to get people out of the house.”
