Mia McKenna-Bruce on playing Maureen Starkey in the Beatles biopics: “She had a huge heart”

Posted On January 19, 2026January 19, 2026

Mia McKenna-Bruce has opened up about playing Maureen Starkey in The Beatles biopics.

The actor was speaking in a new interview with the Sunday Times when she was asked about her role of playing Ringo Starr’s first wife in Sam Mendes’s The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, which is slated for release in 2028.

McKenna-Bruce, who is currently starring in Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials on Netflix, reflected on the trepidation and joy of immersing herself in Starkey.

Admitting that she has not yet met Starr or his family as “they have all been on set, just not when I’ve been there,” the actor said in spite of this, she has still heard a lot about Starkey.

She said: “Someone described her as the person who, if she went to a party, would be the one that would go up to the person who was on their own. She had a huge heart.”

Starkey married Starr when she was 18 years old in 1965, with their son Zak arriving shortly after. The couple went on to have their second son, Jason, and daughter Lee, before divorcing in 1975.

She enjoyed a close relationship with Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd, with Aimee Lou Wood playing the latter in the biopics.

Elsewhere, in a separate interview with Stylist, McKenna-Bruce spoke honestly about her nerves at taking on the blockbuster role. “When we started, I thought, ‘I’m way out of my depth’,” she admitted. “To get to be involved in telling this story… it’s a proper ‘pinch me’.”

She added: “I have to accept that I’m going to feel imposter syndrome – look at what we’re doing! But that’s OK – when I tell myself not to feel like that, that’s when I spiral.”

Despite not having met McKenna-Bruce, Starr’s son Zak Starkey revealed over the weekend that his father is hugely impressed by the biopics and Barry Keoghan, who is playing him.

Starkey shared, “My dad said that he went to the set and that it was amazing. It really blew him away. He was pretty impressed with what he saw.”

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