Jessie Buckley’s Best Actress win for Hamnet may feel like a breakthrough, but in reality, it’s been a long time coming. Over the years, she has built a career defined by instinct, range and a refusal to follow the expected path. Whether on stage, on screen or through music, Buckley has consistently chosen complexity over convention. Here are five things to know about one of this year’s most celebrated actresses
She first stepped into the spotlight through a talent show
Before moving into film, Jessie Buckley first came into the public eye on the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything in 2008 at just 18. Competing for the role of Nancy in a West End revival of Oliver!, she finished as runner-up. Rather than accepting the offer to stay on as an understudy afterwards, she chose to carve her own path, making her stage debut later that year in A Little Night Music before going on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Her foundation as an actor is firmly rooted in theatre
That early shift toward theatre became the foundation of Buckley’s craft. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2013, she performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in The Tempest and appeared in productions including Henry V and The Winter’s Tale. Even as her screen career expanded, she continued returning to the stage. In 2021, she even starred opposite Eddie Redmayne in a revival of Cabaret at London’s Kit Kat Club, winning the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical and reinforcing her standing as a formidable stage performer.
Music also plays a key role in her creative identity
Growing up in a musical family – her mother a harpist and vocal coach, and her father a bar manager who also wrote poetry – music has always been a natural part of Jessie Buckley’s world. She passed Grade 8 exams in piano, clarinet and harp at a young age, building a strong foundation early on. That musical instinct carries into her work, most clearly in Wild Rose (2018), where she performed all the songs herself. She later explored that side further through her collaborative album with Bernard Butler, “For All Our Days That Tear the Heart” (2022).
Her Oscar recognition came before her win
Before her Best Actress win, Jessie Buckley had already caught the Academy’s attention with The Lost Daughter (2021), directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. She earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as the younger version of Olivia Colman’s character, portraying a young mother caught between ambition, identity and the pressures of motherhood. The performance, marked by restraint and emotional intensity, became a turning point in her career – an opportunity that came after Colman herself recommended Buckley for the role.
She said yes to Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet before reading the script
When it comes to how Hamnet came together, Jessie Buckley’s collaboration with Chloé Zhao feels almost serendipitous. Zhao had initially turned down the project, with little connection to Shakespeare, before crossing paths with Buckley and Paul Mescal at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival. That chance meeting led Zhao back to the story, and she quickly knew Buckley was right for the role. For Buckley, the decision was just as instinctive, agreeing to star before even reading the script and simply trusting Zhao’s vision.
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