All he’s gotta do is act naturally.
Zak Starkey has revealed how his famous father, Ringo Starr, feels about the upcoming biopic starring Barry Keoghan as the beloved Beatles drummer.
“My dad said that he went to the set and that it was amazing,” Starkey, 60, exclusively told The Post while promoting his one-man show at the Gramercy Theatre on Feb. 20. “It really blew him away.”
“He was pretty impressed with what he saw,” the former Who drummer added. “But that’s literally all I know. I’m not involved in Beatle business at all, really.”
Director Sam Mendes officially announced his “The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event” biopic project last March.
While Keoghan, 33, will depict Starr, Paul Mescal has been cast as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
“We’re not just making one film about the Beatles — we’re making four,” Mendes, 60, said during his announcement at CinemaCon in March 2025. “Perhaps this is a chance to understand them a little more deeply.”
“There had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation,” the “Skyfall” director added. “I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore, and I think we found a way to do that.”
Mendes reportedly plans to release each of the four separate biopics on April 7, 2028, to create what he called “the first binge-able theatrical experience.”
Starkey shared his own thoughts about his dad’s biopic and Keoghan portraying the “Act Naturally” singer during an interview with NME back in June.
“Get a big rubber nose,” he responded when asked if he had any advice for the “Saltburn” actor. “I don’t know what else to say. He doesn’t look anything like my dad, does he? You can fix anything, can’t you? You can certainly give someone a big rubber nose.”
“The thing about my dad is his personality. He sold the Beatles to America; he’s the one with the charisma,” Starkey added. “Pulling that off will be hard. He’s just himself.”
Starr opened up about the biopic and how he spent two days offering “extensive notes” to Mendes in an interview with The New York Times published in July.
The “Octopus’s Garden” writer explained that most of his issues were tied to how his relationship with his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett, was being portrayed.
“He had a writer – very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,” the music icon, 85, said. “That’s not how we were. I’d say, ‘We would never do that.’”
Starr and Tigrett married in 1965 at the height of Beatlemania. They welcomed three children together, including Zak, before divorcing in 1975.
The former Beatle added that he was satisfied with how his relationship with his family would be depicted on the big screen, but he still had some doubts about other aspects of the film – including the April 2028 release date.
“But he’ll do what he’s doing,” Starr concluded. “And I’ll send him peace and love.”
Keoghan, meanwhile, revealed that he met and hung out with the Beatles legend shortly after the project was announced – although he wouldn’t play the drums for Starr.
“I met him at his house, and he played the drums for me,” the “Eternals” actor said during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in May 2025. “He asked me to play, but I wasn’t playing the drums for Ringo.”
“When I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous, like right now. But he’s like, ‘You can look at me,’” Keoghan continued. “My job is to observe and kinda take in mannerisms and study him. I want to humanize him and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate.”
Besides revealing how his dad feels about the upcoming Beatles biopic and sharing some advice to Keoghan, Starkey said that he is excited to see the film once it hits theaters in two years.
“I go to all the Beatles premieres,” the former Oasis drummer told The Post before revealing that he still hasn’t finished watching all of the band’s most recent films.
“But I haven’t watched ‘Get Back’ in its entirety yet,” he shared. “And I haven’t seen ‘Anthology’ in its entirety yet, but I love that first ‘Anthology.’”
“The Beatles: Get Back” was a three-part documentary miniseries directed and produced by Peter Jackson. It covered the making of the Beatles’ 1970 record “Let It Be” and premiered on Disney+ in November 2021.
“The Beatles Anthology,” meanwhile, was a six-part documentary series that first premiered in 1995 and centered on the band’s nearly 10-year career. A nine-episode version of the project was remastered and released on Disney+ this past November.
As for his one-man show next month, Starkey is set to share stories, unseen photos and videos, and songs from his time playing with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band, The Who, Oasis, Johnny Marr and more.
Called “Zak Starkey…Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation,” the gig will take place at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City on Feb. 20.
“I’m not one of those drummers who can sit down and impress you by just playing on my own. I’m only as good as the food I’m being fed,” Starkey told The Post ahead of the one-man show. “When I’m playing with Pete Townshend, he’s feeding me really good stuff. And when I’m playing with Johnny Marr, they seem to know what I like to eat. Same with Noel Gallagher, and it was the same with [late Who bassist] John Entwistle.”
“So I just thought, well, I don’t like doing drum solos,” he added. “So let’s think of how I can make it more of a celebration of all the music that I’ve been involved in.”
Starkey went on to call it a “blessing” that he’s “never had a gig that I’d call a job.”
“It’s just been great people, great times, and great music,” the drumming legend said. “And that’s what my one-man show is about.”
“It’ll be a lot of fun and not very serious,” Starkey concluded. “I’ve got a lot of stories to tell that I remember in detail, and I don’t have anything really bad to say about anybody. So what could possibly go wrong?”
“Zak Starkey… Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation” debuts at the Gramercy Theatre on Feb. 20.
