Anna Sawai is reportedly being lined up for the part of Yoko Ono in Sam Mendes’ eagerly anticipated four-part biopic on the Beatles. The news was broken by entertainment journalist Jeff Sneider of The InSneider over the weekend. If true, it would mean another high-profile role for the New Zealand-born Japanese actress who recently won a Golden Globe and Emmy for her portrayal of the noblewoman and practicing Catholic, Lady Mariko, in Shogun. She also impressed in dramas such as Giri/Haji and Pachinko. Sawai has yet to comment on the rumor.
A biopic is being made for each member of the Beatles. Mendes, known for films like American Beauty and Skyfall, will direct all four. Although no casting has officially been announced, Babygirl star Harris Dickinson is believed to be the first choice to play John Lennon. Gladiator II’s Paul Mescal is the favorite to land the role of Paul McCartney, while fellow Irish actor, Barry Keoghan is tipped to play Ringo Starr. As for George Harrison, Joseph Quinn from Stranger Things is the name being linked to the part, however, Never Let Me Go actor, Charlie Rowe, has also been mentioned.
The People By Kishin: Lennon-Ono-2016
Yoko Ono: A Crucial Role
The role of Ono will be a crucial one. Blamed for breaking up the Beatles, she was once the most hated woman on the planet. The vitriol was also sexist and racist. “John Rennon’s Most Excrusive Gloupie,” read the headline in a 1970 Esquire magazine article. She met Lennon at London’s Indica Gallery in 1966 and married him three years later. They then used their honeymoon as a stage to protest the war in Vietnam from their hotel bed in Amsterdam. Lennon, who once described his wife as “the world’s most famous unknown artist,” was shot dead in 1980.
