From a teenage hopeful on a BBC talent show to the cusp of Academy Award glory, Jessie Buckley’s journey reads like something from the movies themselves. Eighteen years ago, she stood on the stage of I’D DO ANYTHING, a West End competition show, trying to make her mark. Now, with a Golden Globe for best actress in a drama clutched in her hands for her searing portrayal of William Shakespeare’s wife in HAMNET, she stands poised to etch her name into Oscar history.
The film, which also claimed best film at the Golden Globes and hit UK cinemas this Friday, has positioned Buckley as a hot favourite for Academy Award recognition. Her previous nomination in 2022 for THE LOST DAUGHTER proved she belonged in elite company, but this feels different, more assured, more inevitable. If she succeeds, she’ll become only the fifth Irish actor to claim that famous gold statuette, joining the rarefied company of Barry Fitzgerald, Brenda Fricker, Daniel Day Lewis, and Cillian Murphy. The island of Ireland could celebrate a remarkable double triumph too, as Northern Ireland-born Maggie O’Farrell, whose award-winning novel provided the source material, co-wrote the screenplay and may find herself in line for her own Oscar recognition.
Standing before the Golden Globes audience, Buckley spoke with genuine warmth about the honor of working in this industry, but what struck deepest was her reflection on the production itself. Here was a film about perhaps the most famous Brit who ever lived, yet it became something gloriously international, a creative collision of cultures with a Chinese director, Irish actors including her co-star Paul Mescal who played Shakespeare himself, a mostly Polish crew, and their British family. Mescal, nominated for best supporting actor, ultimately lost to Stellan Skarsgård, but his presence alongside Buckley underscored the Irish talent now commanding attention on the world stage.
Steven Spielberg, who co-produced HAMNET, told the ceremony he loved O’Farrell’s book, lending his considerable weight to a project that has captured imaginations on both sides of the Atlantic. With the Golden Globes serving as a crucial bellwether less than a fortnight before the Academy Award nominations land on January 22, Buckley’s trajectory from reality television contestant to Oscar frontrunner feels like a vindication of talent, persistence, and the long game. This could indeed be the year she writes her name into history.
Don`t miss @scandalous_13 on the @willseeyounowshow!
The PEAKY BLINDERS, KIN and MOBLAND actor opens up about living with aphantasia, his complicated relationship with fear and the self-destructive impulses he works to keep under control.
Watch now via 🔗︎ in bio 🍀
Fifty years. One extraordinary career. And he keeps getting better 🎬
Don`t miss beloved #Belfast actor; Ciaran Hinds; in Netflix’s adaptation of John Steinbeck`s EAST OF EDEN.
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Paul Mescal is now in your Netflix queue 🍿
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Ciilian Murphy for 28 YEARS LATER 3?
Danny Boyle just confirmed at the @zurichfilmfestival that the third chapter of the 28 DAYS LATER saga is happening. Alex Garland already has a script, and Boyle says there will be "a lot of Cillian Murphy in it."
Full details via 🔗︎ in bio!
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Congrats to Saoirse Ronan!
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Despite four Oscar nominations, Saoirse still truly believes in independent film!
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73-year-old @piercebrosnanofficial tells @interviewmag that acting means constantly constructing and destroying a part of yourself to become the character.
From Bond to MOBLAND and everything in between, Brosnan is the real deal.
Full details via link in bio 🔗︎
See you in 2040! 🎬⏳
Richard Linklater just gave the most Linklater progress report imaginable on MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG: nine sections, twenty years, and the fourth one starts filming in a few months. Paul Mescal has been along for the ride since 2019, and the finished film will take eight years longer than BOYHOOD, which already felt like an impossible feat at twelve.
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The first trailer for ELSINORE is here, and it`s a gut punch 🎭
Andrew Scott plays the late Ian Charleson, the actor who chased the performance of his lifetime as Hamlet at the National Theatre while facing impossible odds. Simon Stone (THE DIG) directs, Stephen Beresford (PRIDE) writes, and Olivia Colman stars alongside Scott, who also produced.
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