Sir Paul McCartney was almost run over on the zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios while his daughter Mary filmed for her new documentary celebrating 90 years of the world famous building.
The 80-year-old Beatles star was attempting to recreate the Fab Four’s 1969 Abbey Road album cover for his daughter’s first feature-length documentary titled If These Walls Could Sing on Disney+.
Photographer and filmmaker Mary McCartney told S Magazine: “The bit where the car nearly ran him over on the zebra crossing, that was so funny.
“As we were leaving (the studio), I said, ‘I’ll film you (on the crossing),’ and he went over and this car totally didn’t stop for him!”
The 53-year-old said she was “really nervous” to show her father the finished film given the Beatles had recorded most of their music at Abbey Road and had named their 11th studio album after the venue.
She said: “I took him to a cinema to watch it and kept thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, I hope he likes it.’
“The next day, I was at an event and somebody said, ‘I saw your dad and he was talking about the documentary for ages.’
“It’s somewhere he’s really passionate about so when he heard I was doing the documentary, he was really pleased and it made him think about Abbey Road again and a lot of the stories.”
Mary said it is always emotional visiting Abbey Road and “reminiscing about past times” spent with her culinary entrepreneur mother Linda McCartney, who died in 1998.
She said: “A lot of the people still working there worked with my parents and they pulled me aside and said, ‘We really remember your mum and how inclusive she was and how great she was.
“That definitely brought a tear or two to my eye on several occasions. When people were nice and went, ‘Oh God, we really liked her, she’d come into the canteen and have a cup of tea with us and have a chat,’ I kind of loved it but also it made me sad.”
The film includes special appearances from Sir Paul and his fellow Beatle Sir Ringo Starr, as well as Sir Elton John, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and Liam Gallagher.
She added: “I was wondering if it was almost a bit too close to home. But I’m a huge documentary watcher. I love them and I think the ones that are successful are the ones where it’s something close to the director’s heart.
“So this definitely fits the bill. I definitely want to direct more. I don’t know what that will be, but it will need to be something I’m passionate about, like I am about Abbey Road.”
Abbey Road Studios in London has been a recording studio since Sir Edward Elgar conducted a performance there in 1931, and has welcomed the likes of Radiohead, Amy Winehouse and Adele.
The building, followed by the zebra crossing outside, was given Grade II-listed status in 2010.
