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Jessie Buckley has won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet. This is the first Oscar win for the actress and her second nomination, having been nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2022 for The Lost Daughter.
Buckley has already received several accolades for the film, including the Golden Globe Award, the Actor Award, the BAFTA, and the Critics’ Choice Award.
The performer was nominated in the category alongside Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value, and Emma Stone for Bugonia.
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, also starring Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, and Joe Alwyn, received eight total nominations at the 2026 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, as well as a Best Directing nod for Zhao.
The movie tells of the love story between William (Mescal) and Agnes (Buckley) Shakespeare during the 16th century, along with their beloved son Hamnet. But before too long, tragedy strikes the family, resulting in heartbreak that serves as inspiration for his play Hamlet.
Hamnet is based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 New York Times bestselling novel, which has also been adapted for the stage by Lolita Chakrabarti, and was recently played in the West End in a production directed by Erica Whyman.
Buckley was most recently seen onstage in the West End production of Cabaret, for which she won an Olivier Award. Buckley first rose to recognition as a finalist on the Oliver! reality competition series, I’d Do Anything. She has been seen on the West End in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and at The National Theatre in Romeo & Juliet. Her notable screen credits include Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter, Women Talking, and Fargo. Her latest film, The Bride!, is now playing in theaters.
Photo Credit: Focus Features
