Jessie Buckley Reflects on Her Critics Choice Win For ‘Hamnet’ as “An Absolute Honor”
It looks like Jessie Buckley is still reeling from her Critics Choice Awards win for Best Actress in a leading roles category for Hamnet, in which she stars a role of Agnes Shakespeare, opposite Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare.
“The thing that probably means the most to me is that I got to be in the room with so many amazing artists that I admire so much and who have literally changed me from the inside out—that’s it for me,” she told Daryn Carp in an exclusive E! News interview backstage at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica after she won on Jan. 4. “The fact that the role, the film I had a blast making, and the story I loved, getting recognized in this way is an absolute honor.”
Jessie Buckley Reflects on the Intense Emotional Experience of Working on ‘Hamnet’
Jessie Buckley winning Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards hosted by Chelsea Handler, was only a small icing on the cake for her. In fact, what had been her real dream was to bring to life Maggie O’Farrell’s widely praised novel Hamnet through the film adaptation by Chloé Zhao.
“The book was absolutely stunning,” the 36-year-old explained. “The way the story was written kind of stormed me inside like a hurricane. I think that’s a pretty good feeling for a core material to have that impact on you just with your first interaction, right?”
Alongside Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, and Jacobi Jupe, Buckley features in the period drama and speaks highly of Chloé Zhao’s ability to capture the book’s feel and color.
“You know, for me, there are still many films that I’m deeply connected to, where exactly to that extent you put your heart outwardly and dive deeply into the emotional part of it, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” explained Buckley. “But Chloé Zhao was like a painting artist, leading that film in such a very special manner…”
Jessie Buckley Reveals Filming Hamnet Was Surprisingly a Lot of Fun — Even Rihanna Dance Parties Included
Hamnet is primarily a story about Shakespeare’s grieving over the loss of his son and drawing his most famous tragedy from his experience of grief, but Jessie Buckley says the experience of making the film was “not as heavy as you may think.”
“We had fun every day, really,” she said. “There were challenging parts, sure, but they were also born out of love at the highest level, and Chloé always keeps the atmosphere extremely light making, and after every week, as a tradition, we’d do these dance rehearsals with Rihanna’s music where the cast, crew, and almost 400 extras in Elizabethan period costumes would lose their minds to Rihanna.”
In addition to being emotional and heartfelt, Buckley used her Critics’ Choice acceptance speech to compliment co-star Paul Mescal. “I bloody love you, man,” she told him from the stage. “I know a bunch of other women in this room do too, but, tough s–t! I could drink you like water if I was working with you every single day. You are a giant of the heart.”
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