- 2 hours ago
From a reality TV hopeful to an Oscar-nominated powerhouse, Jessie Buckley’s career journey is anything but ordinary. Starting with jazz club gigs and West End debuts, she quickly transformed into a versatile actress starring in acclaimed films, TV series, and stage productions. Join us as we explore how Buckley’s diverse roles and fearless choices have established her as one of the most compelling talents in the industry today.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:01That for me was the performance of the night.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:05And today, we're diving into Jesse Buckley's career timeline
00:08from talent show hopeful to Oscar nominee.
00:12Our place is with our son.
00:15Look at me.
00:18Jesse Buckley first popped up on our radar
00:20as an 18-year-old on the BBC's I Do Anything,
00:24a talent competition searching for a new Nancy
00:26for the West End revival of Oliver.
00:28As long as he...
00:37She didn't win, but she did come in second.
00:41Still, that didn't stop her from making a bold move.
00:44While most runners-up probably would have grabbed
00:46the understudy role of Nancy,
00:48Buckley famously said no thanks.
00:51She later called the whole reality TV experience
00:53quote, brutalizing and messed up.
00:55So instead, she took a job singing in a jazz club
00:59for 300 pounds a week.
01:01That was somewhere between $460 and $485 back then.
01:05Which you can't really...
01:06You can't even get the tube on that over in London.
01:09That's also when she made her professional debut
01:12in A Little Night Music
01:13and eventually decided to enroll
01:15at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
01:17better known as RADA
01:18to escape the fast track to pre-packaged fame.
01:22Fun fact, it was during this time
01:24that a patron was so blown away by her voice
01:26that they offered to cover her expenses
01:28so she could go study.
01:30He paid for, like, my training.
01:32He paid for my rent.
01:33He paid for food shopping
01:35when I couldn't, like...
01:37You know, and pure...
01:39The kindness of strangers is incredible.
01:43After graduating in 2013,
01:45Buckley quickly made a name for herself
01:47as a classical actress,
01:49landing roles at Shakespeare's Globe
01:50as Miranda in The Tempest
01:52and sharing the stage with Jude Law
01:54in Henry V
01:55and Judi Dench in The Winter's Tale.
01:58She later described this repertory period
02:00as the time she built the technical discipline
02:02that would shape her screen presence.
02:04Your father's in some passion
02:06that works in strongly.
02:07Never till this day
02:08saw I am touched with anger so distempered.
02:11Buckley's TV career kicked off
02:13with some pretty high-profile
02:15BBC literary adaptations.
02:17She played Maria Bolkonskaya
02:19in War and Peace
02:20and Lorna in Taboo.
02:22There are still those that say
02:24that only a beast can tame a beast.
02:27And that to avenge the death
02:29of the good people like my dear father,
02:32we must find our own monster
02:35and call him Napoleon.
02:38But 2018 was when things really took off.
02:41In her film debut,
02:42she starred in Beast,
02:44playing a woman trapped
02:45in a stifling community
02:46who falls for a murder suspect.
02:48That role won her
02:49the British Independent Film Award
02:51for Most Promising Newcomer.
02:52I want you to tell me
02:54that you didn't do it.
02:57I lied for you.
02:58I said we were together that night
03:00and I need to know
03:00I did it for the right reason.
03:02Next up was Wild Rose,
03:03where she played Roselynn Harlan,
03:05a Scottish ex-con
03:06with big dreams
03:07of making it in Nashville.
03:09Here, Buckley got to blend
03:10her musical chops
03:11with some serious dramatic grit.
03:30The performance earned her
03:31a BAFTA nomination
03:32for Best Actress
03:33and even gave her the chance
03:35to perform the film's soundtrack
03:36at Glastendary Festival.
03:38She kept the momentum going
03:39in 2019
03:40with a haunting turn
03:41in HBO's Chernobyl,
03:43plus a supporting role
03:44in the Judy Garland biopic Judy.
03:46Look, I'll do all I can
03:48to help you resolve
03:49whatever's going on,
03:51but please,
03:53for my sake,
03:54just do the show.
03:57You're a classy little number,
03:59aren't you?
03:59By the time the 2020s rolled around,
04:02Buckley had become the go-to
04:03for directors who love
04:04a bit of psychological complexity.
04:07Her filmography from this era
04:08is basically a checklist
04:09of prestige cinema.
04:11I feel like I was
04:12that wind tonight
04:14blowing through Jake's parents,
04:16seeing them as they were,
04:18seeing them as they will be,
04:20seeing them after they're gone.
04:21What are you-
04:22And only I'm left.
04:23What are you thinking?
04:25Only the wind.
04:26Not much.
04:27She starred in Charlie Kaufman's
04:29surreal I'm Thinking of Ending Things
04:31and Alex Garland's folk horror, Men.
04:33In 2021's The Lost Daughter,
04:36she played the younger version
04:37of Olivia Colman's character
04:39and picked up her first Oscar nomination
04:41for Best Supporting Actress.
04:43Critics called her performance
04:44a, quote,
04:45revelation of maternal ambivalence.
04:47Can you home now, Mommy?
04:50I'm home today.
04:51Can you wash my hands off to dinner?
04:55I can't stay for dinner, baby.
04:59I've got to get in an airplane.
05:01Oh, okay.
05:02That same year,
05:04she starred in the National Theatre's
05:05televised Romeo and Juliet
05:07and made a splashy return
05:08to the West End
05:09as Sally Bowles and Cabaret,
05:11handpicked by Eddie Redmayne,
05:13who starred alongside her as the emcee.
05:15Her, quote,
05:17astonishing fierceness in the role
05:18won her the Laurence Olivier Award
05:19for Best Actress in a Musical.
05:21Eddie Redmayne,
05:22you eejit for even asking me to do it.
05:27Meanwhile,
05:28she kept racking up screen credits
05:29in titles like Women Talking,
05:31Wicked Little Letters,
05:33Fingernails,
05:33and even Fargo,
05:35the latter of which earned her
05:36a Critics' Choice Award nomination
05:38for Best Supporting Actress.
05:39Those types of narcotics,
05:41when prescribed as a medical remedy,
05:44say, as a mood elevator
05:45or to strengthen the concentration
05:46can be quite effective,
05:47but ingesting them
05:49without the written prescription
05:50of a certified physician,
05:54that's not something I can help you with.
05:56And if you thought
05:57she might be slowing down,
05:58think again.
05:59She also released
06:00a Mercury Prize shortlisted album,
06:02For All Our Days That Tear The Heart,
06:04with Bernard Butler in 2022.
06:15Indeed,
06:16time after time,
06:17Buckley has proven
06:18she can disappear into any role,
06:20whether by switching up her accent
06:22or just changing her hair color.
06:24She's even said
06:25that these little transformations
06:27help her draw a line
06:28between herself and her characters,
06:30giving her a place to hide
06:31from all the attention.
06:33How did you get,
06:33did you just spend time
06:35around Glaswegians
06:36just listening to them
06:36and talking like that?
06:37Yeah, you know,
06:38it's great fun,
06:39you know,
06:39when your research means
06:40that you have to go
06:41to the Ben Nevis,
06:42you know,
06:42for Friday and Saturday night
06:43to really get into character.
06:45It's brilliant.
06:45Then the Hamnet era rolled in,
06:47where Buckley went from being
06:49an actor's actor
06:50to a full-on generational icon.
06:52Another interesting tidbit for you,
06:54it was around this time
06:55that Buckley started thinking
06:56about motherhood,
06:58starting her own journey
06:59into parenthood as filming wrapped,
07:01becoming a mom to a baby girl.
07:03But that's a story for another day.
07:04I don't think it's kind of
07:06any coincidence
07:06that I became a mom
07:07on the other side of Hamnet
07:09because it stoked the flames
07:12for something to open in me
07:16and being a mom
07:18is the greatest privilege of my life.
07:21Chloe Zhao's adaptation
07:22of Maggie O'Farrell's novel
07:24doesn't focus on Shakespeare,
07:25but instead puts his wife
07:27Agnes front and center.
07:28Agnes' connection to the natural world
07:30is almost supernatural,
07:32and Buckley's performance
07:33has been described by critics
07:35as, quote,
07:36ferocious gentleness.
07:37You weren't here.
07:38I would have cut my heart out
07:40and given it to him.
07:41I would have laid my life
07:42down on the ground for him
07:43and no one would take it.
07:44I know.
07:44No, you don't know.
07:47You don't know.
07:48You weren't here.
07:49The film introduces Agnes
07:50as she emerges
07:51from the hollow of a giant tree,
07:53a so-called wood nymph,
07:54if you will,
07:55who becomes the heart
07:56of the Shakespeare family.
07:58By March 2026,
08:00Buckley had basically swept
08:01the major acting awards,
08:02becoming the first Irish performer
08:04to win the actor award,
08:06formerly SAG,
08:07for lead female actor.
08:08To get to work
08:10with my heart in my hand
08:12and stand beside
08:14my brilliant,
08:17daring friends
08:18who show me their heart,
08:19I mean,
08:19what a way
08:20to spend a life.
08:23Before we continue,
08:24be sure to subscribe
08:25to our channel
08:26and ring the bell
08:27to get notified
08:28about our latest videos.
08:30You have the option
08:31to be notified
08:31for occasional videos
08:33or all of them.
08:34If you're on your phone,
08:35make sure you go
08:36into your settings
08:37and switch on notifications.
08:38So what's next for Buckley?
08:41Even as she's busy
08:42collecting her flowers
08:43for Hamnet,
08:44she's already on
08:45to her next big thing,
08:46The Bride,
08:47directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal.
08:49This time,
08:50Buckley's doing a total 180
08:51from the earthy Amnes,
08:53playing a murdered woman
08:54in 1930s Chicago
08:55who's brought back to life
08:57as Frankenstein's bride.
08:58Please don't hurt me,
08:59please.
09:00I'm sorry.
09:00What are you sorry for?
09:02Did you do something wrong?
09:04Something you thought
09:04you might get away with?
09:05She's admitted
09:06she wasn't exactly
09:07the studio's first pick,
09:09calling herself,
09:10the least bankable choice,
09:12since she's not been
09:13in any big Hollywood franchises
09:15and doesn't have
09:15a social media presence.
09:17But Gyllenhaal
09:18put her foot down,
09:19reportedly saying,
09:20who else could have done it?
09:22Jessie's able to hold
09:23the entire spectrum
09:24of human experience
09:25inside of her.
09:26Jessie Buckley
09:27was in my first film
09:29and she was so wonderful
09:32and also spoke my language
09:35in a way that I've never
09:38encountered
09:38in quite the same way.
09:39I also like working
09:40with actors who speak
09:41another language.
09:42It's also very exciting.
09:42But Jessie and I
09:43are real soul sisters.
09:45Early reviews
09:46from the London premiere
09:47are calling her performance
09:48quote,
09:49electrifying in punk rock
09:50with a black-tongued,
09:52frizzy-haired look
09:52that just proves
09:53once again.
09:54Buckley is the ultimate
09:56multi-hyphenate.
09:57This elemental force
09:58of the bride
09:59is waking the world up.
10:01The dead have got
10:02something to say.
10:03Once I'd created
10:05this person
10:05who is the powerhouse
10:07of a woman,
10:08it was only ever Jessie.
10:10Honestly,
10:11you can't look at
10:11Buckley's resume
10:12and find any kind
10:13of typecasting.
10:14She's truly done it all.
10:16And to think,
10:17it all started
10:18with a reality TV show
10:19called I Do Anything.
10:21Needless to say,
10:22Buckley proved
10:22she really could do anything.
10:24Such an interesting career
10:26you've got, Jessie,
10:27though.
10:27It's so different,
10:28isn't it?
10:29Yeah,
10:30I've been incredibly lucky.
10:31I don't know if there's
10:33somebody looking after me.
10:37And largely,
10:38it's been down to the,
10:39I've met incredible people
10:40along the way
10:41who for some reason
10:42have just taken me
10:43under their wing
10:44or encouraged me
10:46to keep going.
10:47When did you first
10:48become acquainted
10:48with Jessie Buckley?
10:49Let us know
10:50in the comments.
Comments