Paul McCartney to ‘Nowhere Boy’ Star: John Lennon Never Punched Me!
Do you want to know secret?
Nowhere Boy, the new John Lennon biopic opening Oct. 8—on the eve of what would’ve been the rock icon’s 70th birthday—isn’t 100 percent accurate.
So says fellow Beatle Paul McCartney.
Interviewed on Milling About, Nowhere Boy star Aaron Johnson discusses Sir Paul’s reaction to the flick.
“Paul said he loved it and thought it was great,” the British actor tells host Robin Milling—but then adds:
“He said, ‘I can’t remember Lennon ever punching me in the face!’ during one of the scenes.
“But if that’s the only thing he was worried about, then we’re off.”
Aaron also asked John’s widow, Yoko Ono, how she felt.
“Yoko gave her blessing and basically stayed out of the way while we were making the film,” he says. “And she cried when she saw the movie.
“She was very gracious and complimentary about our performances in the film and how I portrayed Lennon when he was younger.”
Aaron talks, as well, about feeling John’s presence while filming.
“When I got out of the cab by The Dakota [the Manhattan apartment building where John was slain in 1980] and got out where he got out—I know this might sound really strange—but it felt spooky, and the energy around there is upsetting.
“There was this one time where I perform Hello Little Girl in this room and it was quite last-minute where we found this location.
“It was a house and it was in south of London. I was sitting on a sofa where I was trying to sing the song,” he says.
[Director] Sam [Taylor-Wood] didn’t like the carpet either, so she wanted to take that out and move the sofa.
“When we did pick up this carpet, underneath—exactly where I was sitting—was this newspaper preserved from the 1960s, and it had Lennon’s face right on it!”
