{"id":304545,"date":"2026-01-26T15:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/304545\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T15:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T15:32:18","slug":"the-secret-to-hamnet-star-jessie-buckleys-success-she-grew-up-in-a-house-with-no-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/304545\/","title":{"rendered":"The secret to Hamnet star Jessie Buckley’s success… she grew up in a house with no TV!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CODIE BULLEN, SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER <\/p>\n

Published: 19:06 EST, 25 January 2026 | Updated: 20:28 EST, 25 January 2026 <\/p>\n

She rose to fame on BBC<\/a> talent show I’d Do Anything and is a hot favourite to win Best Actress at this year’s Oscars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But despite being a fixture on big and small screen for two decades, Hamnet star Jessie Buckley<\/a> certainly didn’t learn her craft from watching television.<\/p>\n

The Irish actress, 36, who grew up in Killarney, Co Kerry, only got a TV when she was a teenager.<\/p>\n

And, her family said, a childhood without a TV in the house helped to cultivate her talent for music and creativity.<\/p>\n

She played the Irish harp, the clarinet and the piano as a youngster \u2013 as her mother Marina Cassidy was a harpist and teacher while her father Tom was a musician, poet and historian.<\/p>\n

‘Having no television allowed them to experiment creatively and spend time in nature as a family,’ her uncle Sean and his wife, Carol Dempsey, told the Sunday Times. ‘Music really was her first love, long before acting took over.’<\/p>\n

In 2008, Ms Buckley was a contestant on I’d Do Anything, overseen by Andrew Lloyd Webber, in which she competed against 11 others to star in a revival of the musical Oliver! playing the role of Nancy.<\/p>\n

\"Jessie <\/p>\n

Jessie Buckley (pictured at the Golden Globes), who grew up in Killarney, Co Kerry, only got a TV when she was a teenager<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The Hamnet star\u00a0rose to fame on BBC talent show I’d Do Anything and is a hot favourite to win Best Actress at this year’s Oscars\u00a0<\/p>\n

She lost out to Coronation Street actress Jodie Prenger, 46, and was offered a role as her understudy by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, which she turned down.<\/p>\n

But she later garnered critical acclaim for the 2017 thriller Beast, and went on to star in The Lost Daughter \u2013 for which she received an Oscar nomination in 2022.<\/p>\n

‘She always challenges herself in each new role, and also because she wants to make a difference,’ said Mrs Dempsey.<\/p>\n

Ms Buckley’s turn as Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Hamnet has so far won her the Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award.<\/p>\n

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