Paul McCartney had one thing to say about the actor playing him on the big screen - and he said it with a smile.
On the final episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which aired Thursday night, McCartney sat down for one of the most memorable interviews of the farewell broadcast. When Colbert asked the 83-year-old music legend to weigh in on Irish actor Paul Mescal playing him in the upcoming Beatles biopic, McCartney joked that he was the cuter one - before warmly adding that Mescal is "very cute." The moment immediately went viral.
It is the kind of exchange that only late night can produce: the real Paul McCartney, on one of television's biggest stages on its final night, good-naturedly sizing up the 29-year-old who has spent all of 2026 preparing to become him on screen.
Mescal - known for Normal People and Gladiator II - was confirmed as McCartney in Sam Mendes' The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event at CinemaCon 2025. The project is set for release in April 2028 by Sony Pictures, and marks the first time the Beatles and their families have ever granted full music and life rights to a theatrical film. Each of the four films follows a different Beatle from his own perspective: Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
Filming has been underway since March 2026, with production spotted across Liverpool. Mescal has said the project will occupy his entire year and has confirmed he will do his own singing. He previously described meeting McCartney in person as "a crazy sentence to say."
The Beatles were the kind of band whose music transcended entertainment - their songs have accompanied generations through moments of faith, loss, joy, and everything in between. McCartney's own story, from a young musician in Liverpool to one of the most enduring creative forces in history, is one worth telling well. If Mescal's early transformation is any indication, it appears to be in good hands.
The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event arrives in theaters April 2028.
Watch Full Interview Here: "We're Live, And We Sound Good Man" - Paul McCartney On The Beatles Playing The Ed Sullivan Show
Related article: Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Just Released Their First-Ever Duet: It's About Where They Both Came From
