{"id":1808283,"date":"2026-03-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1808283"},"modified":"2026-03-05T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T05:00:00","slug":"northern-roles-should-go-to-northern-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1808283","title":{"rendered":"Northern roles should go to Northern actors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/109-0-1350-900\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440240.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/film-tv\/article\/69817\/1\/should-northern-roles-go-to-northern-actors-beatles-biopic-wuthering-heights\" data-article-id=\"69817\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.78\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Beatles\" class=\"img\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1400\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440240.jpg\" width=\"1600\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Sony Pictures UK<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-05T08:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - film-tv\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\">Film &amp; TV<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/opinion\">Opinion<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Northern roles should go to <span class=\"nowrap\">Northern actors<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Sam Mendes has missed an opportunity to platform underrepresented talent in his forthcoming <span class=\"nowrap\">Beatles biopics<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-05T08:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-05T08:00:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"05 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"5\">5,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/SerenaSmith\">Serena Smith<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Back in early 2024, Sam Mendes announced his latest venture: a mammoth series of Beatles biopics, with one standalone film per member of the Fab Four. By early 2025, it was confirmed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/paul-mescal\">Paul Mescal<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/harris-dickinson\">Harris Dickinson<\/a>, Joseph Quinn, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/barry-keoghan\">Barry Keoghan<\/a> would be starring as Paul, John, George, and Ringo respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We\u2019ve now had a glimpse at the cast in their roles. In January, postcards featuring the four leads in character were left dotted around the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, with the images circulating on the internet soon after. More recently, behind-the-scenes clips of the actors filming in London and Liverpool have spread across social media. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cj.celeb.clips\/video\/7610882604803329282?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7513943437604816407\"><span>One short video posted on TikTok<\/span><\/a><span> sees Mescal cycling down a suburban street, guitar slung over his back, filming a scene which is presumably meant to take place in the late 1950s; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@grapherazzi\/video\/7611592109488901398?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7513943437604816407\"><span>another<\/span><\/a><span> captures Keoghan pacing around wearing the band\u2019s signature Cuban-heeled boots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>These new sneak peeks have, unsurprisingly, raised some eyebrows. Some are taking issue with how old the cast are: Joseph Quinn, for example, is currently 32 years old, when Harrison was just 15 \u2013 more than half Quinn\u2019s age \u2013 when he first auditioned for the group <\/span><span>on the top deck of a bus<\/span><span>, impressing the typically steely Lennon with a rendition of Bill Justis\u2019 \u201cRaunchy\u201d. Others believe the actors are simply too famous already, which will make it difficult for audiences to suspend their disbelief and immerse themselves in the narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-tiktok\" data-id=\"7606809381627268374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Many are also troubled by the fact that none of the film\u2019s stars come from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/liverpool\">Liverpool<\/a> (or Northern England, more broadly): Mescal and Keoghan are both Dubliners, while Dickinson and Quinn were born and raised in London. \u201c<\/span><span>Four unknown lads from Liverpool being played by four world-known actors, and not a single one from Liverpool,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cj.celeb.clips\/video\/7612871591831080214?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7513943437604816407\"><span>reads one comment<\/span><\/a><span> under a TikTok clip depicting filming in Crosby. \u201cNo Scousers in this movie is wrong,\u201d reads <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cj.celeb.clips\/video\/7608057359004470530?q=beatles%20filming&amp;t=1772627029517\"><span>another<\/span><\/a><span>. Some Scousers have been cast in the film, admittedly \u2013 including Leanne Best, Bobby Schofield, and David Morrissey \u2013 but the fact remains that none of the leads hail from Merseyside.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The furore has thrown up an interesting question: should Northern roles go to Northern actors? The Beatles biopic aside, the lack of opportunities afforded to Northern actors has been a hot topic in recent months, thanks to Emerald Fennell\u2019s decision to cast two iPhone-faced Australians as Cathy and Heathcliff in her adaptation of <\/span><em><span>Wuthering Heights.<\/span><\/em><span> Like the Beatles\u2019 origin story,<\/span><span>Charlotte Bront\u00eb\u2019s tale of two doomed lovers is another narrative distinctly grounded in the North of England and, parallel to the controversy around the \u2018whitewashing\u2019 of Heathcliff, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2026\/feb\/17\/wuthering-heights-yorkshire-cathy-earnshaw-margot-robbie\"><span>many<\/span><\/a><span> objected to the absence of Northern talent at the heart of the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On the one hand, arguing that actors should be limited to playing roles which neatly align with their own identities seems antithetical to the craft. Acting is, after all, supposed to be the art of embodying a character, no matter how different their story is from your own. Plus, inserting identity politics into casting processes could be a slippery slope. Where does it end? Should straight characters only be played by straight actors? White characters by white actors? Should actors of colour be barred from taking on coveted Shakespearean roles like Hamlet or Lady Macbeth? (Obviously not, would be my answer).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But directors casting non-Northern actors in Northern roles feels like a missed chance to give up a leg-up to underrepresented talent. The British entertainment industry is painfully London-centric, with <\/span><span>most major casting directors, agents, and respected drama schools (such as RADA and LAMDA) located in the capital, and casting Northerners in Northern stories would be an easy way to encourage the decentralisation of film and TV.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of course, it would be reductive to assume that all four leads in the Beatles biopic are as \u2018underrepresented\u2019 as one another, simply because none of them come from the north of England. Keoghan, for example, h<\/span><span>as been candid about the extreme adversity he faced growing up between foster homes in a working-class area of Dublin. <\/span><span>And while Dickinson was born and bred in northeast London, <\/span><span>there\u2019s \u201c<\/span><span>no public school, no Oxbridge, no drama school\u201d on his CV, as a 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2022\/oct\/16\/actor-harris-dickinson-triangle-of-sadness-kings-man-interview#:~:text=Dickinson's%20path%20to%20this,with%20one%20of%20his%20teachers.\"><em>Guardian<\/em><\/a> article put it, which makes him an \u201coutlier in British acting these days\u201d. <\/span><span>Quinn, who attended a Battersea private school <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emanuel.org.uk\/admissions\/fees\/\"><span>costing nearly \u00a325,000 a year<\/span><\/a><span>, is arguably <\/span><span>the only one out of the four who had a more-than-comfortable childhood<\/span><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-tiktok\" data-id=\"7611592109488901398\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>With <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/culture\/2016\/feb\/27\/class-ceiling-working-class-actors-study\"><span>research<\/span><\/a><span> finding that 73 per cent of performers in British theatre and film are middle-class, it\u2019s undoubtedly a win to see actors from modest backgrounds like Keoghan, Mescal, and Dickinson achieve global success. But it would be nice for directors to give <\/span><em><span>more<\/span><\/em><span> underrepresented actors a chance (especially those who haven\u2019t already been nominated for Oscars). Plus, it would likely level up the entire industry, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Because th<\/span><span>ere\u2019s <\/span>a lot <span>of undiscovered talent outside of the capital. Take <\/span><em><span>Skins<\/span><\/em><span>, the Channel 4 comedy drama: creators famously scouted their cast from drama clubs and local schools in Bristol, lending the show a gritty, raw edge, which quickly emerged as its USP \u2013 and more importantly, the cast were <\/span><em><span>good<\/span><\/em><span>. Many world-leading British actors today first cut their teeth on the set of <\/span><em><span>Skins<\/span><\/em><span>, from Kaya Scodelario to Dev Patel to Hannah Murray to Nicholas Hoult to Daniel Kaluuya (who, in 2021, bagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Or, for a more recent example, take <\/span><em><span>Adolescence. <\/span><\/em><span>Stephen Graham, the co-creator of the Netflix hit, acknowledged in an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/stephen-graham-netflix-adolescence-jamie-owen-cooper-b2716958.html\"><span>interview<\/span><\/a><span> that he made a conscious effort to cast a<\/span><span> budding Northern actor as the show\u2019s lead, and that he felt Owen Coop<\/span><span>er\u2019s subsequent success has been the show\u2019s \u201cbiggest achievement\u201d. To date, Cooper has won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Critics\u2019 Choice Award, and an Actor Award for his startlingly powerful performance as a teenage killer. He also landed a minor role as a young Heathcliff in Fennell\u2019s \u201c<\/span><em><span>Wuthering Heights\u201d <\/span><\/em><span>off the back of his successful turn in <\/span><em><span>Adolescence \u2013 <\/span><\/em><span>ironic, really, given that he likely wouldn\u2019t have been on Fennell\u2019s radar if it wasn\u2019t for Graham\u2019s willingness to take a chance on a then-unknown teen from Warrington.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With all this in mind, the Beatles biopic feels like a wasted chance to cast some new Northern talent; it could have potentially launched lifelong careers for a quartet of young Scouse actors and, moreover, helped to craft a more emotive, believable film. In any case, Mendes\u2019 film isn\u2019t the first Beatles biopic, and it certainly won\u2019t be the last. Here\u2019s hoping that one day we\u2019ll get a film about the four lads from Liverpool played by, well, four lads from Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. 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Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Back in early 2024, Sam Mendes announced his latest venture: a mammoth series of Beatles biopics, with one standalone film per member of the Fab Four. By early 2025, it was confirmed that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/paul-mescal\">Paul Mescal<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/harris-dickinson\">Harris Dickinson<\/a>, Joseph Quinn, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/barry-keoghan\">Barry Keoghan<\/a> would be starring as Paul, John, George, and Ringo respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We\u2019ve now had a glimpse at the cast in their roles. In January, postcards featuring the four leads in character were left dotted around the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, with the images circulating on the internet soon after. More recently, behind-the-scenes clips of the actors filming in London and Liverpool have spread across social media. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cj.celeb.clips\/video\/7610882604803329282?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7513943437604816407\"><span>One short video posted on TikTok<\/span><\/a><span> sees Mescal cycling down a suburban street, guitar slung over his back, filming a scene which is presumably meant to take place in the late 1950s; <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@grapherazzi\/video\/7611592109488901398?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7513943437604816407\"><span>another<\/span><\/a><span> captures Keoghan pacing around wearing the band\u2019s signature Cuban-heeled boots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>These new sneak peeks have, unsurprisingly, raised some eyebrows. Some are taking issue with how old the cast are: Joseph Quinn, for example, is currently 32 years old, when Harrison was just 15 \u2013 more than half Quinn\u2019s age \u2013 when he first auditioned for the group <\/span><span>on the top deck of a bus<\/span><span>, impressing the typically steely Lennon with a rendition of Bill Justis\u2019 \u201cRaunchy\u201d. Others believe the actors are simply too famous already, which will make it difficult for audiences to suspend their disbelief and immerse themselves in the narrative.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-tiktok\" data-id=\"7606809381627268374\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Many are also troubled by the fact that none of the film\u2019s stars come from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/liverpool\">Liverpool<\/a> (or Northern England, more broadly): Mescal and Keoghan are both Dubliners, while Dickinson and Quinn were born and raised in London. \u201c<\/span><span>Four unknown lads from Liverpool being played by four world-known actors, and not a single one from Liverpool,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cj.celeb.clips\/video\/7612871591831080214?is_from_webapp=1&amp;sender_device=pc&amp;web_id=7513943437604816407\"><span>reads one comment<\/span><\/a><span> under a TikTok clip depicting filming in Crosby. \u201cNo Scousers in this movie is wrong,\u201d reads <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@cj.celeb.clips\/video\/7608057359004470530?q=beatles%20filming&amp;t=1772627029517\"><span>another<\/span><\/a><span>. Some Scousers have been cast in the film, admittedly \u2013 including Leanne Best, Bobby Schofield, and David Morrissey \u2013 but the fact remains that none of the leads hail from Merseyside.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The furore has thrown up an interesting question: should Northern roles go to Northern actors? The Beatles biopic aside, the lack of opportunities afforded to Northern actors has been a hot topic in recent months, thanks to Emerald Fennell\u2019s decision to cast two iPhone-faced Australians as Cathy and Heathcliff in her adaptation of <\/span><em><span>Wuthering Heights.<\/span><\/em><span> Like the Beatles\u2019 origin story,<\/span><span>Charlotte Bront\u00eb\u2019s tale of two doomed lovers is another narrative distinctly grounded in the North of England and, parallel to the controversy around the \u2018whitewashing\u2019 of Heathcliff, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2026\/feb\/17\/wuthering-heights-yorkshire-cathy-earnshaw-margot-robbie\"><span>many<\/span><\/a><span> objected to the absence of Northern talent at the heart of the film.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On the one hand, arguing that actors should be limited to playing roles which neatly align with their own identities seems antithetical to the craft. Acting is, after all, supposed to be the art of embodying a character, no matter how different their story is from your own. Plus, inserting identity politics into casting processes could be a slippery slope. Where does it end? Should straight characters only be played by straight actors? White characters by white actors? Should actors of colour be barred from taking on coveted Shakespearean roles like Hamlet or Lady Macbeth? (Obviously not, would be my answer).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But directors casting non-Northern actors in Northern roles feels like a missed chance to give up a leg-up to underrepresented talent. The British entertainment industry is painfully London-centric, with <\/span><span>most major casting directors, agents, and respected drama schools (such as RADA and LAMDA) located in the capital, and casting Northerners in Northern stories would be an easy way to encourage the decentralisation of film and TV.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Of course, it would be reductive to assume that all four leads in the Beatles biopic are as \u2018underrepresented\u2019 as one another, simply because none of them come from the north of England. Keoghan, for example, h<\/span><span>as been candid about the extreme adversity he faced growing up between foster homes in a working-class area of Dublin. <\/span><span>And while Dickinson was born and bred in northeast London, <\/span><span>there\u2019s \u201c<\/span><span>no public school, no Oxbridge, no drama school\u201d on his CV, as a 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2022\/oct\/16\/actor-harris-dickinson-triangle-of-sadness-kings-man-interview#:~:text=Dickinson's%20path%20to%20this,with%20one%20of%20his%20teachers.\"><em>Guardian<\/em><\/a> article put it, which makes him an \u201coutlier in British acting these days\u201d. <\/span><span>Quinn, who attended a Battersea private school <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.emanuel.org.uk\/admissions\/fees\/\"><span>costing nearly \u00a325,000 a year<\/span><\/a><span>, is arguably <\/span><span>the only one out of the four who had a more-than-comfortable childhood<\/span><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-tiktok\" data-id=\"7611592109488901398\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>With <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/culture\/2016\/feb\/27\/class-ceiling-working-class-actors-study\"><span>research<\/span><\/a><span> finding that 73 per cent of performers in British theatre and film are middle-class, it\u2019s undoubtedly a win to see actors from modest backgrounds like Keoghan, Mescal, and Dickinson achieve global success. But it would be nice for directors to give <\/span><em><span>more<\/span><\/em><span> underrepresented actors a chance (especially those who haven\u2019t already been nominated for Oscars). Plus, it would likely level up the entire industry, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Because th<\/span><span>ere\u2019s <\/span>a lot <span>of undiscovered talent outside of the capital. Take <\/span><em><span>Skins<\/span><\/em><span>, the Channel 4 comedy drama: creators famously scouted their cast from drama clubs and local schools in Bristol, lending the show a gritty, raw edge, which quickly emerged as its USP \u2013 and more importantly, the cast were <\/span><em><span>good<\/span><\/em><span>. Many world-leading British actors today first cut their teeth on the set of <\/span><em><span>Skins<\/span><\/em><span>, from Kaya Scodelario to Dev Patel to Hannah Murray to Nicholas Hoult to Daniel Kaluuya (who, in 2021, bagged the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Or, for a more recent example, take <\/span><em><span>Adolescence. <\/span><\/em><span>Stephen Graham, the co-creator of the Netflix hit, acknowledged in an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/stephen-graham-netflix-adolescence-jamie-owen-cooper-b2716958.html\"><span>interview<\/span><\/a><span> that he made a conscious effort to cast a<\/span><span> budding Northern actor as the show\u2019s lead, and that he felt Owen Coop<\/span><span>er\u2019s subsequent success has been the show\u2019s \u201cbiggest achievement\u201d. To date, Cooper has won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Critics\u2019 Choice Award, and an Actor Award for his startlingly powerful performance as a teenage killer. He also landed a minor role as a young Heathcliff in Fennell\u2019s \u201c<\/span><em><span>Wuthering Heights\u201d <\/span><\/em><span>off the back of his successful turn in <\/span><em><span>Adolescence \u2013 <\/span><\/em><span>ironic, really, given that he likely wouldn\u2019t have been on Fennell\u2019s radar if it wasn\u2019t for Graham\u2019s willingness to take a chance on a then-unknown teen from Warrington.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With all this in mind, the Beatles biopic feels like a wasted chance to cast some new Northern talent; it could have potentially launched lifelong careers for a quartet of young Scouse actors and, moreover, helped to craft a more emotive, believable film. In any case, Mendes\u2019 film isn\u2019t the first Beatles biopic, and it certainly won\u2019t be the last. Here\u2019s hoping that one day we\u2019ll get a film about the four lads from Liverpool played by, well, four lads from Liverpool.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/film-tv\/article\/69817\/1\/should-northern-roles-go-to-northern-actors-beatles-biopic-wuthering-heights&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/109-0-1350-900\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440240.jpg&#8221;] Sony Pictures UK March\u00a0 5,\u00a0 2026 Film &amp; TV \/ Opinion Film &amp; TV \/ Opinion Northern roles should go to Northern actors Sam Mendes has missed an opportunity to platform underrepresented talent in his forthcoming Beatles biopics March\u00a0 5,\u00a0 2026 March\u00a0 5,\u00a0 2026 TextSerena Smith Back in early 2024, Sam Mendes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1808283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1808283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1808283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1808283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1808283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}