Both Himesh Patel and Danny Boyle are very familiar faces to British TV and film audiences. Himesh Patel is still shy of age 30 but has already taken the TV character of Tamwar Massod from appearances in short films to becoming a pivotal character in “EastEnders.” Through nine seasons, Danny Boyle has won wide stature and acclaim in the directing realm, winning the BAFTA award for 1994’s “Shallow Grave” before the breakout success of “Trainspotting” in 1996.

Danny Boyle has received a distinction reserved for very few in film-making. His 2008 hopeful fairytale, “Slumdog Millionaire” was dubbed greatest British film of the decade.

All their accolades aside, Danny Boyle and Himesh Patel brought a schoolboy's delight to the June 25 set of “CBS This Morning” to talk about their loving summer tribute to the Beatles and their indelible music, “Yesterday.”

Sir Paul McCartney himself credits songwriting to the intervention of the divine, citing that songs “come from somewhere in the air,” and nothing that can be conjured by the mind and plucking strings alone. The situations that brought the stars in alignment for “Yesterday” could only have been constructed by divine intervention. Himesh Patel and Danny Boyle have become even deeper devotees to the genius of the Beatles through their journey in “Yesterday.” Audiences may experience the film as a mere summer delight, but the music and the memories endure forever.

Not like riding a horse

The mythology in the acting world that you could “just say anything” to get a prime part became part of the puzzle for Danny Boyle. “It's not like riding a horse,” reminded the award-winning director. From the outset, this leading man had to prove his chops as both a singer and an actor, as well as being able to convey the reverent sensitivity within the character for being the vessel of the music.

Nothing could be faked until midway through production, and Danny Boyle knew “straight away” that Himesh Patel was perfect for playing “Yesterday’s” Jack Malik. It took more than sound to do the convincing.

“Soul” was Himesh Patel’s selling quality, according to Boyle. “He sang with soul.”

Patel admits that before making “Yesterday,” he was “not as big a fan as I am now,” insisting that “This journey has made me a huge fan.”

“Everything you hear in the film is me singing,” reminds the leading man.

“We didn't overdub anything.”

The purity in the performance component of “Yesterday” was kept intact even in front of a very heavy-hitting musical co-star, who wasn't the first choice.

Song and spectacles

“Yesterday” doesn't only breakout Himesh Patel to a worldwide audience-- the movie exemplifies that multimillion-selling singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran, can genuinely act on-screen. His memorable scenes with Patel on “song guidance” come across with the same unassuming ease and self-effacing quality that Sheeran carries on stage. If anything, this movie Sheeran has a touch more confidence and swagger than the true one.

Himesh Patel had to put his musicianship under the pressure of Ed Sheeran’s considerable scrutiny 5 minutes after meeting the modern song master.

Danny Boyle asked him to perform the classic, “The Long and Winding Road,” with only himself singing a cappella. He apparently passed that test on proficiency and pathos. Anthony Mason credited the performance of that song as a standout in “Yesterday.”

Danny Boyle also divulged that Ed Sheeran was not the first choice for playing the song mentor to Jack. The role was first offered to Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who “wasn't available” for the project.

Ed Sheeran playfully obliged, but not before scolding Boyle for the little lie that the ginger-haired artist was “our first choice.”

“You just offered it to Chris Martin!” Sheeran retorted. Nonetheless, every frame in “Yesterday” seems exactly as is was intended.

Surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, along with widows, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison, signed off for the consent to use the music, which is a rare occurrence in itself. “They were quite taken with the humor of it—being wiped from history,” Boyle relates. Being very familiar with busking in the streets, the living Beatles probably loved the premise of the struggling musician becoming the muse who keeps their music living.

The Beatles always let their music speak for love, acceptance, and inclusion. Himesh Patel feels “very fortunate” that ethnicity need not be a focus to his character. “There's been a change in the narrative,” the actor asserts before Boyle interjects that “he's just the best.” The same could be said of the music, created in such a short span of years.

At this very moment, at 77, Paul McCartney is performing on his “Freshen Up” tour, with spirit and vigor that erases age. Ringo Starr, soon to turn 79, and the All-Star Band have gigs scheduled for years to come, with no rocking chairs or golf clubs in the offing. They just have to trim down the songs to fit into three hours or so, the usual show length for McCartney.

“A world without Beatles is a world that's infinitely worse,” declares a line from “Yesterday.” Thanks to this time-defying testament, and creators Himesh Patel and Danny Boyle, such a reality will never come to pass.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED