When Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare’s wife in the new film Hamnet, lets out a primal scream upon the death of her 11-year-old son, it is so powerful that you almost feel her grief reach out from the screen.
There are many powerful moments in this stunning film adaptation of the British author Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, named after Shakespeare’s young son.
But for mothers, Agnes Shakespeare’s unimaginable anguish is heartbreaking.
As fate would have it, Jessie would find herself pregnant with her first child shortly after filming wrapped, bringing a whole new perspective on motherhood.
Jessie reveals the ‘wild ride’ of motherhood
“My heart is cracked open in a way that you can’t really know until you’ve experienced what that is,” says the Irish actress, who now has a baby daughter with her husband Freddie, a mental health professional, whom she married in 2023.
“It’s an intense, wild ride of the heart but the most beautiful one,” adds Jessie, 36, who met her future husband on a blind date.
Having previously dated her War & Peace co-star James Norton – their relationship was constantly in the spotlight – she now prefers to keep her life private, living between Norwich and East London.
“My heart is cracked open in a way that you can’t really know until you’ve experienced what that is.”
Jessie’s role in Hamnet
Along with millions of readers, she was enchanted by Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 bestseller Hamnet, reimagining how William and Agnes Shakespeare’s son died from the bubonic plague.
The fictionalised story, directed by Chloé Zhao, explores the profound grief experienced by his parents, and the impact of this loss on their family and on Shakespeare’s decision to write Hamlet.
Hollywood quickly realised the story’s potential, and the powerhouses Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes signed on to co-produce the film.
Moved to tears after reading Chloé’s script for Hamnet, Jessie recalls: “I was like – this is the woman I’ve been looking for. Agnes is untethered, free, deeply curious, like a kind of rye whiskey, a mischievous, hungry, beautiful soul of a woman. I just love her. She’s like one of those people I wanted to be my new best friend.”
“I was like – this is the woman I’ve been looking for.”
An insight into Hamnet rehearsals
On the first day of rehearsals, Chloé instructed Jessie (as Agnes) and Paul Mescal (as William) to participate in a bizarre tantric workshop where Paul embodied a penis while Jessie embodied a vagina.
“There was an objective overview in my mind like, ‘OK, just surrender to this situation’, but really it was like, ‘What’s going on?'” says the down-to-earth actress, the eldest of five children who grew up in Killarney, County Kerry.
This unusual workshop aside, she easily immersed herself in the dynamics of a large family unit, taking part in group exercises to create the Shakespeare family clan.
So much so that the 12-year-old British actor Jacobi Jupe, who plays Hamnet, was sad to say goodbye to his screen parents. “Jessie and Paul, they instantly felt like my mum and dad, and I’m not even kidding. We’ve been like a real family,” he says.
In turn, Jessie says: “Jacobi is such a clever, deep little man who knows exactly what is required of him and has such access to go somewhere so deep. He’s so special, my heart is just blasted open by him.”
Jessie’s glittering career
A Rada graduate and acclaimed stage actress, Jessie is already celebrated for her roles in the films Men, Wild Rose and Women Talking, along with TV shows Taboo, Chernobyl and Fargo. Next up, she will play a very different kind of wife in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! – an audacious reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein.
And, having already earned an Oscar nomination for her role in The Lost Daughter, her heartwrenching performance in Hamnet is guaranteed to bring another slew of accolades.
For all the success coming her way, she couldn’t have done it without Paul: “I love that man. I’ve been very lucky to work with great partners in my life. I think he might be the best…” she says, teasingly lowering her voice. “Don’t tell the others.”
