Note: Contains spoilers for Yesterday.
Yesterday star Himesh Patel has opened up about the major surprise cameo in Danny Boyle's Beatles-inspired rom-com.
The movie takes place in a world where The Beatles never existed, leading to one emotional – and divisive – moment in the final third. But before we discuss it, look away now as spoilers await.
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As Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) struggles with the moral dilemma of becoming famous from performing Beatles songs as his own, he's urged by Liz (Sarah Lancashire) and Leo (Justin Edwards) – the only other people to remember The Beatles – to visit a place by the seaside.
There, Jack meets a 78-year-old John Lennon – who never became famous and has lived a peaceful life – still fighting for issues that he believes in. He tells Jack to "tell the truth to everyone you know".
"It kind of took my breath away, to be honest. It felt so poignant, of course, and yeah, really beautiful," Patel told Digital Spy of the cameo.
"This whole film is kind of a 'what if?' story, and it felt like the tip of that, you know? Maybe there's a universe in which that's where John is. And then he still turns out to be this wonderful, thoughtful, philosophical man."
Even though the actor playing Lennon is recognisable (under heavy make-up), we're going to go by the wishes of both Universal and the actor in not revealing it.
"The filmmakers and the actor made an agreement that they would keep the actor's identity a secret out of respect for the life and memory of John Lennon. We respect their wishes and therefore will not be releasing his name," Universal said in a statement.
Patel also recently revealed The Beatles song that was cut from Yesterday and how he never really saw taking on such classic songs as "difficult".
Yesterday is in cinemas now.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
