Hamnet Interviews with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal

Name: Hamnet Interviews with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal
Uploaded: 2025-10-11T20:58:01+00:00
Duration: 16 min 15 s
Channel: ODE

ODE

3 months ago

The cast of the new film ‘Hamnet’ arrived in London for the UK Premiere of their new tearjerker film directed by Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao. She was joined on the red carpet by her leads Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, co-writer and author of the book Maggie O'Farrell, as well as young cast members Jacobi Jupe and his brother Noah, Bodhi Rae Breathnach and Olivia Lynes.

Based on O’Farrell’s 2020 book, it reimagines the story of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes, who suffer the loss of their only son Hamnet, which is said to have inspired Shakespeare to write ‘Hamlet’.

Expected to be an awards season favourite, ‘Hamnet’ is set to release in cinemas in early 2026. Report by Burtonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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00:00It is quite satisfying, yeah.

00:18Hey, thanks so much for your time, I appreciate you.

00:20Congratulations on the film, which is making everyone cry.

00:23Is that a satisfying thing to do as a performer?

00:26Like, I got you.

00:27It is quite satisfying, yeah.

00:30Look, we always hope that in telling a story you're going to affect something in someone

00:37and it's very rare that there is such a visceral vibration that this film has created

00:47now that we've started to show it around the world.

00:50And it's not scary to feel.

00:54We've got you.

00:56That's why stories are there.

00:59Hi.

01:00Nice to meet you.

01:01Nice to meet you too.

01:02Congratulations on Hamlet.

01:04Was there a particular location or set that once you visited or like started performing

01:08and kind of unlocked the character a little bit more for you?

01:11Oh, yes.

01:12I think the minute I sat into that pod at the bottom of that tree, I knew I was about to

01:20get into a very, very deep river.

01:22And, you know, you imagine these things, you don't know if you're going to ever fully meet

01:28it.

01:29But it was so early on, we'd already coaxed the fire and I was like, oh, here we go.

01:34So that moment.

01:36I loved hearing about the cast interviews talking about the dance breaks and the dance

01:40Fridays on this scene.

01:41I love talking to the young cast about it.

01:43However, because it's a tearjerker of a film as well.

01:45Yeah.

01:46You've got some like really strange memories of like incredibly highs and lows on the same

01:50day.

01:51I'm going to be honest.

01:52I was very grateful at the end that Chloe would do it.

01:56But at the time I was like, this is like emotional gymnastics that I don't really feel comfortable

02:03with a camera rolling and me doing like dodgy dad dancing.

02:07But I think at some point they'll see the light of day or hopefully not.

02:12Or I'll get to see them at some point.

02:14Which song or which Friday dance breaks?

02:16There was a Thriller was in there.

02:19That sticks out to me as a pretty, I think it was after Hamlet's death.

02:25We dived.

02:26Yeah.

02:27Yeah.

02:28What a wild ride.

02:29Yeah, exactly.

02:30Exactly.

02:31I'm not going to let you move on.

02:32Thank you so much for your time.

02:33Hey, welcome to London for a premiere for a film with your character's name on it.

02:37How does it feel to be the title character of a film in London?

02:41It feels incredible, honestly.

02:44And I'm so glad that it's come here.

02:48It's so astonishing what this movie has done.

02:53This movie is just heartbreaking and honestly I'm lost for words really.

03:00I'm really happy for you as well to be doing this, you know, this whole press tour with your brother by your side as well.

03:06Yeah.

03:07Has he been a good big brother and given you advice on what he told you about what to expect?

03:10Honestly, my brother has just been so supportive in so many ways and we love each other so much and it's just been so great to have him there, honestly.

03:20I love him to bits really.

03:23I am.

03:24I've loved seeing you guys in interviews with Jessie and Paul as well, your on-screen parents.

03:28Tell me how they've helped you throughout all this as well.

03:31What have you learned from watching them?

03:33Honestly, they're such incredible actors, like they are just, they are honestly so incredible and I'm so honoured to have worked with them really, truly.

03:53I've loved hearing about how Chloe as a director, she started the dance party trends for you all just to kind of break some tension.

04:00What are your favourite memories of some of the dances?

04:02Friday dance take, it's our favourite thing.

04:06I would always be like, Chloe, Chloe, what's the song, what's the song?

04:09And Chloe would be like, oh, oh, and then she would like figure it out and then we would like debate what we were going to do.

04:14It was just a way to get all the emotion and just let it out because this movie is so utterly devastating that all of us were just bawling on set.

04:24Like on Friday we would just go and do a dance take and I think that just really helped.

04:31How did you find the experience, I don't know if you were there, I think one of your co-stars told me about the Thriller song during one of your pivotal scenes.

04:39Yeah, so I was dead at this point and Paul basically lifts up the thing to see me but instead of being like my body that they used, it wasn't like it was like a mannequin sort of thing, like a kind of fake thing.

04:56It was actually me under there and I was like smiling in a creepy way and then we did like a dance to Thriller, it was really cool.

05:04I mean, this is a film which is proving very popular on all season things already.

05:10Are you prepared, are you booking out your schedule for hopefully Hamlet's to be going to Masters and Oscars and stuff like that? Are you prepared?

05:19No, but I hope that it does. I think that these special people in this movie deserve that, I really do.

05:28And so do you, thank you so much for your time, I appreciate it. Enjoy tonight as well.

05:31Thank you. Cheers mate, thanks.

05:33It's really interesting because it feels like such a distant memory like the first time I came here.

05:38But it's all like the same hotels, the same places, the same people even, so it's kind of like weirdly nostalgic coming back here.

05:46But it's great.

05:47Well this is kind of perfect for you and for your brother who's also in the cast, he stood to your right at the moment.

05:52Have you been there giving older brother advice and tips in the inside scoop on what to expect from all of this experience?

05:58I mean, I would like to say I have. I think that, you know, he's a pretty incredible kid and he's doing his own thing. He's carving his own journey.

06:09But I'm definitely, you know, I'm there for when he needs me. But I think that, you know, he wants to do his own thing and I'm going to let him do that.

06:17It's so fascinating to see you both on the cast list for this. Can you tell me the process of how it came to you that you both got cast in very similar but not brotherly roles?

06:25Yeah. Well, actually, interestingly enough, I really was only a part of the film because of Jacoby.

06:33So Jacoby got cast originally and I was on another project at the time and they were like coming to the end of the shoot, which was like the final sort of bit where my character enters.

06:45And I just got a call one day and it was Chloe and my mum and they were on set and they were like, do you want to play Hamlet? And I was like, what?

06:55I was like on another film. I totally distracted. And then I sat down and thought about it. I was like, yeah, of course I do.

07:01So it was very last minute. I just came in and joined this incredible production. I felt very lucky.

07:08Was there any challenges in kind of reciting the words of Shakespeare at the time of Shakespeare? We know a lot of our own iterations, but how did you find it?

07:15I found it to be one of the most challenging, yet one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done.

07:20I think that his language is so incredibly complex and beautiful. At times it can feel like it's on a pedestal that you can't reach.

07:31But once you get there and you find your way in and you find the heart of it, which is there in spades, it can actually be some of the most beautiful, you know, feelings you get as an actor.

07:43So, yeah. And finally for me, I've been hearing about how on Chloe's set, she encourages her actors to dance. What is the purpose of that? And what does she end up getting you to dance to?

07:53So, yeah, so I heard all about this from Jacoby. It was like his favorite thing. He used to call me at the end of the day and he used to just tell me about these dance takes that they do.

08:05And at first, you know, I was like, oh, that's sweet. It must just be for the kids, right? No, it's like the whole cruise, the whole cast, they're all dancing.

08:15They choose a song each week and they just do this big dance take. I think for us, because I was only there for like five days, but I think for us it was Umbrella by Rihanna, I think.

08:27Was it the one, the scenes in the globe? Yes. I've heard it was Love in a Hopeless Place.

08:31Oh, no, no, yes, yes, you're right. You're right. And, and yeah, we did, we did the dance take. And I think honestly, it's like, it's something really interesting. And I think it, I've done it before in different processes of acting is like, you know, you're almost telling the same story, but with dance.

08:50It's, it's almost like coming at it from a different angle and it can like loosen you up. It can make you feel like free and excited again about the scene when it becomes really boring, you know, and it just, it just allows you this, like to add this, this excitement, joy, like fun to, to a scene that I think is really beautiful.

09:09And like, you know, we're, we're all trying to get back to like what Jacoby has as a kid is like this, this excellent sort of wonder about the work that he does.

09:20And I remember I used to have it in spades. And as you get older, it, it's, it tends to go away, you know, two final things for me, one, you said wonder and it triggered me.

09:29You made me cry in wonder. And then secondly, what else we've got coming up for yourself? What other projects are you going to see you in?

09:36Um, I have, I have a couple, I have a carpenter's son, which I'm very excited about, um, which is coming out, should be next month.

09:47Um, and then I have a few other things knocking about. I've been, I've been working hard and I'm, I'm very excited about, about the stuff I've been working on too.

09:56I know we're getting colder and we want to get inside, so we'll be very quick.

09:58It's fine, I'm from Scotland, it's fine, this is nothing.

10:00And I'm Northern, so that's why my, that's why my sleeves were off.

10:02Yeah, exactly. This is nothing.

10:04Congratulations on everything this story has achieved so far.

10:09Has it been a whirlwind for you since, I know the book was released in 2020, but it feels like it's gone to stage, it's gone to screen, it's, you've now adapted it.

10:15How have the last five years been for you with this story in particular? Did you, is it beyond your wildest expectations?

10:20Well, to be honest, I, yeah, I didn't really expect it to happen, any of it. So, yeah, and it's very surreal and it's, but it's amazing to be here. You know, there's loads of people and the sun's out and it's fantastic. And I, you know, I, I'm very happy that the film, it's, it's been in such incredible hands with Chloe. And then she had a very clear vision about what she wanted to do with it. And it's just, it's thrilling to watch other people and other people knowing about Hamlet. You know, the whole purpose of me writing the book was that I wanted more people to understand that.

10:38Shakespeare had a son who was called Hamlet and he died and he, Shakespeare went on to write a play in his name. And I always felt that not enough people knew that. But now I feel people are getting to know that. People know his name now.

11:01People know that part of the story, but also people coming away from this story in tears and flooded tears. You are having that effect on people, your words.

11:08I'm sorry.

11:09But what's interesting, I know that, uh, Chloe shed a tear. I know that Cass shed a tear, like, including the making and the writing. Are you immune to it at this point? Or are you still finding yourself...

11:17You know, I'm not. I mean, I have seen, you know, I wrote the book. I wrote the screenplay. I've seen take after take after take. I've seen several edits. And every time I think, I'm not going to cry this time. But then I always do. I have my tissues in here because I know I'm going to cry again.

11:29I mean, Jack of the Jeep is incredible as Hamlet. And I don't know how anyone would fail to cry because it's just, you know, watching the middle of the film. I don't want to do any spoilers, but it's, uh, yeah, it's upsetting.

11:39And the gentleman, you're right, is playing William Shakespeare, Paul Muskell. When you hear about that casting, what was your reaction? Do you think it's a great match, I guess?

11:46I think it's perfect. I mean, actually, I always wanted it to be Paul Muskell, even before Chloe was involved. I saw Paul on the stage when he was quite young in Dublin as Stephen Deaglis in Portrait of the Artist.

11:57And even then he stood out by a mile from everybody else. And he just has a very interesting way, I think, of depicting inner turmoil and outer calm.

12:07And there's something very interesting about that dichotomy which he gets across so well. And it's perfect for Shakespeare.

12:12Yeah, perfect for Shakespeare. And then tomorrow...

12:20I loved, I loved the dance breaks personally. They got everyone involved, like, um, even my dad. My dad got involved one time in it.

12:30Um, it was so uplifting and fun because it's a very emotional film, but it was just really fun. Like, um, one time when Steven Spielberg, he was on set, um, he joined in on it.

12:41And it was so fun. Like, I danced with him and it was just, it was so cool. It really uplifted everyone's spirits, I think.

12:49It was, it's definitely, um, a core thing I remember doing on set.

12:54That's gonna be, you're gonna be the envy of many people, the fact that you got to dance with Steven Spielberg.

12:58You're gonna have to tell me the song that you guys danced to and how he is to the dancer.

13:01I don't really remember. There was quite a few songs. It was every week. I don't, I don't remember the, um...

13:07I don't remember the exact song we were dancing to, but we did dance to some songs, like, we are family.

13:14Yeah, cause, yeah, I don't really remember the exact song, though, but I'll have to look at that.

13:19Yeah. Um, and this is a tear-jerker of a film. I mean, it's so beside the moment.

13:23And even people watching it, their reaction is, have you seen the film yet and have you shed a tear?

13:28I have watched the film and I have shed a tear. Many tears, actually.

13:33It's so, it's so powerful. I think, um, actually, I was, I was, um, I was watching it, I was watching it with, um, a few people.

13:44Um, my dad was in front of me and nearing the end, I could hear him cry. I've, I've almost never seen my dad cry.

13:52I could hear him physically, like, shaking.

13:56How are you feeling?

13:57I've just got lots of emotions right now. When I got straight in that car, I was really, really excited.

14:02Really excited, really nervous, really just shocked. I was like, I can't believe I'm going on the red carpet,

14:06because this is my first time going on the red carpet, so it's really, really big for me.

14:10Well, hey, first time. You're nailing it so far.

14:12Oh, thank you so much.

14:13We can chill, we can just relax and have a nice chat. Let's do it.

14:16Aw, thank you so much.

14:17Hey, uh, congratulations on starring this massive film.

14:19Oh, thank you so much. Thank you.

14:21How did you find the days on set? Were they, like, long? Were they enjoyable? Were they scary? What do you think?

14:26I think, when I was doing the scenes, they were all different genres, because they were, some of them were really funny, some of them were really scary, and also some of them were really, you know, really sad.

14:36And I think all of those collaborated together are just amazing, sensational. It's just been one hell of a rollercoaster.

14:43I just think it's been such an amazing journey to, well, doing the movie, and I'd love to do it again. I'd love to.

14:50Um, and I know that, uh, Chloe is a director. She encouraged their actors to have some little dance parties. Were you involved in these dance parties?

14:56Yes. Yes.

14:57What were your songs?

14:58Oh, we were doing, um, the thriller dance when we did the scary scenes. We were having thriller dance.

15:04We were doing that for when Jacoby was dead, but, which was really funny, because, well, we faked Jacoby, so we took out the dead body,

15:12and we put Jacoby laying on the table in cloth. Paul didn't know that it was, um, that we were just doing a dance take. He didn't know.

15:20We wanted this to be a surprise, so Paul was coming in, crying, and then we just started the thriller song coming on, and he was just going like this, crying.

15:28He went out of the door, and he was like, oh, my God, and we were just all dancing, and then Paul was just like, yeah! But it was just, oh, it was just so funny. I think that was really funny.

15:36It sounds funny. You must have been the envy of all of your friends when you tell them that you were being on a film with Omar Scal on a daily basis.

15:42Yes. How did they react to it all?

15:44They were absolutely mad. They were shocked. When I told them, they were like, lying to me, aren't you? I was going, no, honestly, I'm not.

15:52I was like, you are. I was going, no, no, no, no. But they were just like, we were supporting you. They've been supporting me out through the whole journey, and, you know, I couldn't have done it without all my friends being like, you got this. You can do this.

16:04So it really supported me. Congratulations. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you so much. It's been so fun. Cheers.

16:10Thank you so much. It's been so fun. Cheers. Thank you. Nice to live here. Thank you so much to see you. Bye.