Cork woman ‘so proud’ of her friend Jessie Buckley

A Cork-based friend and neighbour of Golden Globe-winning actor Jessie Buckley, has said the Kerry woman’s performance in the screen adaptation of Hamnet was nothing short of “astounding”.

Killarney actor Buckley was recognised for her leading role in the film about the life of Shakespeare, at the awards ceremony in Hollywood on Sunday night.

Speaking to The Echo, Bandon woman Fiona Crowley of the Kerry-based Fiona Crowley Stage School, a friend and neighbour of the actor, said she is “so proud” of the star’s success.

“Jessie came and worked with us in the stage school after she finished her Leaving Certificate exams,” said Ms Crowley.

“She worked with us for a little while, and then joined the Musical Society in Killarney — which I’m a member of — so I used to bring her home from rehearsals, and we got quite close.

She said it was “fantastic” to see the actor accepting her Golden Globe for Hamnet on Sunday night.

“The bottom line is that she is the person who needs to take the bow, she did this. It’s just fabulous, I’m so happy for her,” she added.

“I’ve watched her in everything. I actually flew to London to watch her first West End performance, so I’ve followed her career.

“She’s getting a lot of accolades and glory now, [and] her performance in Hamnet was astounding.

“She was raw and gave it everything — she gives everything her all.”

Ms Crowley said she believes Jessie’s success is down to her “grace and dignity”.

“She’s the hottest ticket at the moment, but I do think it’s important that, at the Golden Globes, one of the most glitz and glam events in Los Angeles, she thanked the man who made soup in a pot behind his truck — and that’s genuine — that’s the Jessie that I knew back in 2008.

“You can be the biggest superstar in the world, but if you haven’t got humility and grace, what do you have?”

And she added everyone in the stage school is so proud of her. “It’s such a fabulous story.”

Hamnet, which is based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name, follows the family life of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway as they cope with the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet.

Starring alongside Kildare native, Paul Mescal, who plays William Shakespeare, Ms Buckley, who plays Agnes Hathaway, was honoured in the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama category.

While accepting her award, Ms Buckley paid tribute to Hamnet director, Chloé Zhao, her co-star Mr Mescal, as well as all the cast and crew of the film, with a particular nod to Polish crew member, Tomasz Sternicki, the film’s key grip who, she said, made soup for the crew in his truck.

“It was such an extraordinary set to be part of,” said Ms Buckley.

“We were telling the story of probably the most famous Brit that ever lived, and we had a Chinese director, a lot of Irish, [and] a mostly Polish crew.

“I’d really like to thank our grip, Tomasz because, during shooting, he started to disappear a little bit, and I found him one day at the back of his truck chopping up potatoes, onions, and meat. He was making soup — he brought over his ginormous cast iron pot from Poland, and this soup started turning up on set — it was delicious, so thanks, Tomasz, for bringing your pot to set.

“This is a real, real honour,” she added.

“I love what I do, and I love being part of this industry.”