Jessie Buckley has said making Hamnet, which has seen her nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, has been a “life-changing experience”.
Speaking at an In Conversation event at the British Film Institute’s BFI Southbank in London, the 36-year-old Killarney native said she did not expect the nomination for her work in the adaptation of Coleraine-born author Maggie O’Farrell’s bestseller.
She said: “I don’t think you have any idea of an aftermath before you start, never, and if you do, you know that it’s going to be the opposite of what you think it’s going to be.
Watch: Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal discuss Hamnet with RTÉ Entertainment’s Alan Corr
“So just better not think about it at all. No, I mean, I had an emotional reaction when I read the book first.
“I think we (the cast) all felt like making it was such a special experience, but it’s so vulnerable… that first moment when you share something that has really been such a personal, life-changing experience. It’s so vulnerable.
“It’s like giving birth. You’re like, ‘No, my baby’, and then, it’s OK. But I’m so thrilled and proud that a film like this and a story like this, and protagonists like this can have such an impact, that really it’s kind of taken its own course in a way that I didn’t know.”
She went on to say that she felt the film was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Jessie Buckley as Agnes in Hamnet
Buckley continued: “I may never do anything like this ever again… sometimes just there’s this collision, and this story met me at a point in my life, and… I feel like there’s something about Hamnet, which in my work, was kind of leading me to tell this story at this moment in my life.”
Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao, tells the story of William Shakespeare’s (Paul Mescal) wife Agnes Hathaway, played by Buckley, and the couple’s reaction to the loss of their son, Hamnet (played by Jacobi Jupe).
Last week, the film broke the record for the most nominations, 11, for a female-directed film in BAFTA Film Awards history.
Asked how she was dealing with her success with the film, Buckley added: “I think I’m OK. People are asking me. I’m a new mum, I had a baby six months ago, so I’m also changing nappies at 3am, and I think it’s a gift.
“My work’s done; this bit is about sharing it with the world. And the other stuff is something that, I guess, going into those rooms and places, I still am in awe that I’m around artists that have inspired me in ways that I couldn’t even tell you because I would make an absolute fool of myself.”
Jessie Buckley at BFI Southbank – “I feel like there’s something about Hamnet, which in my work, was kind of leading me to tell this story at this moment in my life”
Buckley was later asked by an audience member if she had already written an acceptance speech.
The Irish star revealed she had not – before asking him if he had any tips.
She has secured a string of trophies, including the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice awards, for her role as Agnes, for which she is also nominated in the Leading Actress category at the BAFTAs.
Buckley, who has also starred in Beast (2017), The Lost Daughter (2021), and Women Talking (2022), will next play The Bride, based on the Bride of Frankenstein, in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s gothic crime film The Bride!.
It is released on Friday, 6 March.
Watch: The trailer for The Bride!
The BAFTA Film Awards take place on Sunday, 22 February.
The Academy Awards take place on Sunday, 15 March.
Source: Press Association
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