McCartney impressed by Mescal's left-handed guitar skills for Beatles biopic

Paul McCartney was impressed by Paul Mescal's dedication to left-handed guitar playing when they met before the actor began shooting the upcoming biopic.

The Normal People actor, who is playing McCartney in The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event, spent months learning how to play the guitar left-handed before cameras started rolling on the project late last year.

As part of his preparation, McCartney met with Mescal and planned to teach him how to play left-handed, only to discover that the Irish actor already knew how to play the 1968 Beatles hit Blackbird.

"He came into this office and I thought, 'Well, I'll show him how to do Blackbird.' So I picked up the guitar and started playing... and he played along exactly! I think he knew it better than I did!" the musician recalled in an interview with BBC News.

McCartney admitted that the attempted guitar lesson made him realise Mescal didn't need his help.

"It was amazing how studied and how well-educated he was about me. So, yeah, I thought, OK, I'll leave you to it,'" he added.

When asked if he offered the Hamnet star advice on how to sing like him, the 83-year-old replied, "None! None!"

Mescal will star alongside Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. The films, directed by Sam Mendes, will focus on a different Beatle and be released at the same time on 7 April 2028.

The Aftersun actor shared his perspective on their Blackbird session last year, telling Rolling Stone that he will "never forget it as long as I live".

"That is the coolest thing my job has ever afforded me. I was kind of having an out-of-body experience, being like, 'I was in drama school nine years ago and now I'm sat opposite Paul McCartney and we're playing Blackbird,'" he gushed. "I was like, 'I love my job.'"

While learning how to play guitar left-handed has been "pretty intense", the Oscar nominee insisted he had to fully commit to the role.

"It would just be crazy to not play it left-handed, you know?" he explained. "You're like, 'Nah. I like (McCartney) a lot, but I don't love him.' That would be the messaging if I didn't play left-handed."

Production on the four-film project is expected to continue for the rest of the year.