Jessie Buckley was a favorite for today’s Oscar nominations for her fiery performance in Chloé Zhao. HamnetAnd, in fact, the Irish native has been recognized in the leading actress category. She’s part of a strong overall performance for the drama, which recently won the top prize for best picture at the Golden Globe Awards as it received eight nominations in total, including directing and adapted screenplay for Zhao (the latter of which is shared with co-writer Maggie O’Farrell).
However, for a film that is a duel between Buckley and Paul Mescal, who play Agnes and William Shakespeare in a fictional account of the grief of losing their son, one of today’s most egregious snubs turned out to be that of Buckley’s co-star, with Mescal losing out on the best supporting actor award despite recognition from the Globes and other voting bodies.
Buckley, who was previously nominated for her role in the Maggie Gyllenhaal film. The lost daughterShe had a lot to celebrate, even on that bittersweet note, and even with her baby crying in the car next to her, as we communicated by phone to celebrate the news.
What is the feeling?
My baby is screaming in the background, but I’m excited. (Laughter.) I am very proud and honored to be next to all those extraordinary women and to be there with Hamnet. I am delighted.
This isn’t your first nomination or your first run with a film, but I’ve seen a lot of you on the road these past few months with Chloé Zhao, Paul Mescal, Jacobi Jupe and others. You all speak often of the meaning of this project to you individually and collectively. How do you put that experience in the context of the film’s current recognition?
Being on the road as a family has been what it felt like when we were doing it. We were a small town. Every time we make these shareable films, this is the next step, releasing them into the world and sharing them with an audience and feeling their response. (baby cries) I’m distracted, sorry, she’s screaming and fed up, frankly right now. (Laughs.) She doesn’t care. She says, “Why am I in a car seat? Feed me!” But look, I love those guys so much. It was an absolute privilege in my life to tell this story with them and I am very proud and honored that it has been responded to in the way it has been on film because that is what we make it for.
A clip that’s been circulating lately is of you all dancing with Rihanna at the end of the session. What do you remember from that moment?
Oh, there’s so much joy in it. The film is very emotional, so you get the essence of what it was like to come and make this story together: the vibrancy of all our hearts and the explosiveness and the great time we had doing this. I’m so glad that’s out there. It’s a celebration, and I felt like it’s the best part of telling this story, in those moments where we can celebrate the journey together.
I was disheartened to see that Paul was not nominated today. What is your reaction?
Yeah, look, I think he’s extraordinary in this movie. I know I’ve met a life-long partner by doing this with him. I don’t know what to say other than that he is, for me, my absolute. His art is something that will continue to grow and be a topic in many different ways. I know that what we created together is something very special to us, and I hold it dearly in my heart, and there is no part of Agnes that exists without Paul. There is no part of what I created or what we created in this story that exists without Paul and what he poured into this story. Thus, what is recognized belongs to it as much as it would be to be recognized in its own category.