She’s been called “the acting world’s best-kept secret.” But Jessie Buckley’s latest role, in the film “Hamnet,” may change that. As Rolling Stone put it, people “will be talking about Jessie Buckley’s performance for years.”

Buckley plays the wife of William Shakespeare (portrayed by fellow Irish actor Paul Mescal). Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, it’s a fictionalized tale about the death of Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet. It imagines the tragedy inspired him to write “Hamlet.”

“I just knew I had to go somewhere mentally, emotionally,” Buckley said of her work.

I said, “You have this fire inside you – that’s what we see on film.”

“I don’t know, do you?” she replied.  

“I’d say so, in what I’ve seen, you see it!”

“I have fire, but I tell you what ‘Hamnet’ gave me, which I also was looking for, was tenderness. And sometimes it’s just as strong as fire.”

She said when she started shooting the more difficult scenes, like the death of her child, she told her husband she needed to go away for two weeks. So, Buckley came to Hampstead Heath, a vast green space in London, where she’d go swimming each morning. “I just need to be in nature and start my day and wake up that way, and then go to the set and see what came out,” she said.

She says “Hamnet” director Chloé Zhao (an Oscar-winner for “Nomadland”) reminded her cinema is not just escapism. “Our jobs as actors and the storytellers are to touch the most heightened expressions that are too hard to hold on our own,” Buckley said. “I get to incubate the bits of us, myself, the shadow bits.”

“What are the shadow bits of you that came out for this role?” I asked.

“I’m not telling you!” she laughed. “You have to watch it and make up your own mind.”

“The sacred flame of star quality”  

Her breakthrough role was playing a single mom just out of prison in 2018’s “Wild Rose.” Then, in 2022, Buckley got an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in “The Lost Daughter.” Her other credits included “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” “Beast” and “Women Talking,” and the TV series “Fargo.”

She said, “I never in a million years thought I’d make a film.”

Because? “I didn’t have a TV ’til I was 15,” she said. “And it was exotic, like, it was in Hollywood. It wasn’t in Kerry.”

In rugged County Kerry, in Ireland’s southeast, Buckley grew up in an artistic family, playing harp, clarinet and piano. She sang and did school productions. But it was the British talent show, “I’d Do Anything,” that put her on a bigger stage – and in front of Andrew Lloyd Webber. He praised her, saying, “Jessie has the sacred flame of star quality.”

She lost that competition, but quickly landed theater roles. Her first Shakespeare performance was near the spot in London where Shakespeare’s early plays were first performed, at the original Rose Playhouse, built in 1587. 

Shakespeare changed everything for her: “I think before, I felt like music was the only way to contain what was kind of wanting to come out, and then Shakespeare’s words and his worlds were so titanic that it just made me realize how powerful words could be,” she said.

Of acting opposite Mescal in “Hamnet,” Buckley said, “I absolutely adore that man. And from our very first chemistry read …”

“Chemistry read is to make sure you have chemistry?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “I mean, it would be really depressing if I didn’t, wouldn’t it? I’d be like the only woman in the world who failed to find chemistry with Paul Mescal!”

The 35-year-old actor says she also found chemistry with Christian Bale for her next film, in which she plays the bride of Frankenstein’s monster. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhall, it’s genre- and expectation-bending.  “It’s punk, it is proper punk,” Buckley said. “I remember when I read it first, it was like being plugged into an electrical socket.”

I said, “Maggie Gyllenhaal referred to you as kind of a wild animal.”

“Hmm. Good,” Buckley said.

“Do you think there’s a truth to that?”

“I have a lot of life in me!”

That life and vitality that we now see on film is the journey that brought Buckley to London as a teenager. At the time, she says, she was in a dark place. “I had depression and I wasn’t very well,” she said. “And I wanted a lot from life. I was really hungry for it. And I felt like there was no place for that. And I think that’s when it imploded in on me, and when I got sick and lost myself, you know?”

“How did your deal with it?”

“I got help,” she replied. “I got therapy. Singing. I mean, I honestly think it’s kind of saved me. Something wasn’t alive then, let’s just say, like it is now.”

To watch a trailer for “Hamnet” click on the video player below.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Jessie Buckley (Video)

For more info:

• “Hamnet” (from Focus Features) opens in theaters Dec. 12
• “The Bride!” (from Warner Brothers) opens in theaters March 2026  

      
Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Carol Ross. 

• International flights from Abu Dhabi, Dubai affected.
• Nine PIA flights cancelled, 18 others delayed.
• Air League, Officers’ Association supports engineers.
  

KARACHI: Multiple flights of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) were cancelled and several others delayed as the dispute between the national carrier and its engineering staff entered its sixth day, sources said on Sunday.

The issue stems from the Society of Aircraft Engineers of Pakistan’s (SAEP) protest over work conditions and safety-related grievances.

As of 5pm, PIA had cancelled nine flights and delayed 18 others due to technical issues and the unavailability of spare parts.

The cancelled international flights included those from Abu Dhabi to Peshawar, Dubai to Karachi, and Faisalabad to Dubai.

PIA flights from Dubai to Faisalabad and Peshawar to Dubai also faced cancellation.

Domestic cancellations included flights between Gilgit and Islamabad, as well as Skardu and Islamabad in both directions.

The dispute also resulted in 18 domestic and international flights experiencing delays of up to ten hours.

The stalemate between the PIA management and its engineering staff worsened last week after the national carrier dismissed the president and secretary general of the SAEP.

A November 6 notification announced the two officials’ dismissal after they failed to appear for personal hearings on November 4 and 5 before the airline’s chief executive officer.

Meanwhile, the Air League, a labour representative union, and the Officers’ Association announced support for the aircraft engineers.

In a joint statement, they condemned the dismissal of the SAEP officials, calling it a “blatant example” of “retaliatory action”.

Air League President Shamim Akmal noted that PIA was going through a sensitive period amid long-standing issues of “corruption and financial mismanagement”.

However, he said that raising concerns for passengers’ safety has now been treated as a punishable act.

The Officers’ Association demanded the immediate reinstatement of SEAP officials, while urging the PIA management to resolve issues through dialogue.

PIA management had accused the aircraft engineers’ body of attempting to “sabotage the airline’s privatisation”.

Last week, a PIA spokesperson said that the SAEP’s move to walk off the job after raising a “safety issue” was a deliberate attempt to disrupt operations and pressure the administration.

Keith Powers has opened up about the struggle he faced while purchasing an engagement ring for his fiancée, Ryan Destiny.

On Monday, November 3, the 33-year-old American actor attended the 2025 CFDA Fashion Awards, where he spoke to PEOPLE magazine about how tough it was to find the right sparkling ring for his wife-to-be.

Powers revealed, “You have to ask your girlfriend at the time what she likes without giving away [the ring design],” adding that he “knew the basis of what Ryan loved.”

He admitted, “I was super indecisive. It was tough, but I got the right one. She loves it.”

The Perfect Find star is now looking forward to the next step he is getting prepared to take with Destiny, who is a notable actress and singer by profession.

He quipped, “I’m looking forward to calling Ryan my wife and I’m looking forward to starting a family with her.

“It’s our relationship evolving. It’s crazy to think that you can be with somebody for so long and you get engaged, it’s like this is a whole new chapter, it’s brand new. There’s so much to look forward to, but I’m really excited to build a family with her,” Keith Powers explained.