JESSIE Buckley is having quite a season. She just won the recent Golden Globes, Irish Film and Television Awards, Bafta and Actor Awards in the Best Actress category for her performance in “Hamnet” (which recently had an Ayala Cinema run). She’s also expected to walk away with the Oscar next weekend. “The Bride!,” her biggest studio film so far, is out in cinemas across the globe.
The 36-year-old was born in Killarney, a town in County Kerry, Ireland. She’s the eldest of five children born to a father who manages a guest house and mother who is a harpist, singer and music therapist.
I first noticed her as Lyudmila Ignatenko in 2019’s “Chernobyl,” but it was her work in 2021’s “The Lost Daughter” that left a lingering impression on me. She took on the role of the younger Olivia Colman (who I also adore). It was a difficult, complicated role, she did have big boots to fill and she absolutely killed it. I started looking for her name in films ever since.
In 2023, she worked with Coleman again on the “Wicked Little Letters” and watching both ladies in this period comedy based on a true story was an incredible delight.
In “Hamnet,” she is directed by Academy Award Winner Chloe Zhao, and stars opposite the multi-awarded fellow Irishman Paul Mescal. She plays Agnes, a ‘forest witch’ who becomes William Shakespeare’s wife and the mother of his children, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. Agnes embraces motherhood and all that comes with it, the joy of family and the unspeakable tragedy of loss.
I love the way Jessie is incredibly fearless and talented when it comes to taking on complex characters — women who can be sages, sharped tongued wags, vulnerable lovers and bubbling cauldrons all at the same time. Talk about containing multitudes.
In “The Bride!,” she is reunited with Maggie Gyllenhaal who directed her in The Lost Daughter. The two continue to ask some of the previous film’s questions. In her interviews, Gyllenhaal wonders, “would that same intention work on a much bigger, pop scale?”
Apart from having Buckley on board, Gyllenhall assembles familiar faces to her cast: her Batman co-star Christian Bale, husband Peter Sarsgaard and brother Jake Gyllenhaal.
There are a lot of great Jessie Buckley performances out there, but I have to add she can sing too. She absolutely has something to show for growing up in a musical family. She won the 2021 Olivier award for playing Sally Bowles in a “Cabaret” revival (opposite Eddie Redmayne). Her powerful and exquisite cover of Sinead O’ Connor’s “Troy” (check YouTube) takes my breath away.
Her next film will be based on the illustrated gothic novella, “Three Incestuous Sisters” where she’ll be with Saoirse Ronan, Dakota Johnson, and Josh O’Connor (another favorite) who was the Romeo to her Juliet in a 2021 TV movie.
If you’re looking for even more Jessie Buckley, there’s the 2016 BBC “War and Peace” series (with bonus Paul Dano, James Norton and Callum Turner), 2023’s “Women Talking” and her “Fargo” episodes.
There’s also a great 70 minute interview with her on the Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast.
Yes, Fan Girl is actually fan girling.
“The Bride!” is out in cinemas and at the Imax.
