Why Jessie Buckley Says Filming Hamnet Felt "Pretty Sexy”

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Critics Choice Awards 2026 Biggest Winners: Timothée Chalamet, One Battle After Another & More

Shall Jessie Buckley compare her latest role and Critics Choice win to a summer’s day?

After all, the Hamnet actress has assured that the feeling of winning Best Actress for her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare opposite Paul Mescal’s William Shakespeare was certainly more lovely than she could put into words. 

“For me to be in that room with so many incredible artists that I just admire so much and have 

literally changed me from the inside out—that’s it for me,” she told Daryn Carp in an exclusive E! News interview backstage at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica after accepting her win Jan. 4. “It’s an absolute honor to be recognized in this role and in this film that I loved making and I loved telling the story.”

And while the 36-year-old accepting the honor at the Chelsea Handler-hosted ceremony was icing on the cake, she emphasized that it was a dream come true to bring Maggie O’Farrell’s novel to life in Chloé Zhao’s adaptation. 

“The book was so extraordinary,” she explained. “When I read the book it kind of ripped through me like a hurricane. If the core material is doing that just with your first interaction with it, I think it feels pretty sexy. That’s kind of a sexy feeling to me.”

But Jessie—who also starred alongside Joe Alwyn and Jacobi Jupe in the historical drama—admitted that she owes Chloé for communicating that sexy feeling onto the big screen. 

“I’ve had that many times with films where you have that feeling and you wear your heart on your sleeve and you go into the village of it and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” she continued, “but Chloé Zhao led this film in such a unique—she led it like an artist.”

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Despite the nature of the story—Hamnet details how Shakespeare channeled the grief he felt toward the loss of his son into one of his most famous plays Hamlet—Jessie also assured that working on the film was not as heavy as one might think. 

“It was fun every day,” she recalled. “There were hard bits of it that came from a huge amount of love, but Chloé keeps a very light set and at the end of every week do these dance takes where we’d blast Rihanna and crew, cast, 400 extras in period Elizabethan costume would rave out to Rihanna.”

Of course, Jessie also made sure to tell the whole world what a delight it was to have the Normal People alum as a costar. 

“I bloody love you, man,” Jessie shared during her acceptance speech. “I know loads of other women do in this room too but tough s--t! I could drink you like water working with you every single day. You are a giant of the heart.”

For more stars who took home trophies at the Critics Choice Awards 2026, keep reading…

Best Young Actor/Actress

Everett Blunck – The Plague (Independent Film Company)

WINNER: Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Cary Christopher - Weapons (Warner Bros.)

Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)

Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Patrick Ball – The Pitt (HBO Max)

Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV)

Ato Essandoh – The Diplomat (Netflix)

Wood Harris – Forever (Netflix)

Tom Pelphrey – Task (HBO Max)

WINNER: Tramell Tillman – Severance (Apple TV)

Best Picture

Bugonia (Focus Features)

Frankenstein (Netflix)

Hamnet (Focus Features)

Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Marty Supreme (A24)

WINNER: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Sentimental Value (Neon)

Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Train Dreams (Netflix)

Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Actor

WINNER: Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme (A24)

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams (Netflix)

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent (Neon)

Best Actress

WINNER: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)

Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)

Emma Stone – Bugonia (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

WINNER: Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Paul Mescal – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value (Neon)

WINNER: Amy Madigan – Weapons (Warner Bros.)

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Best Director

WINNER: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Ryan Coogler – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme (A24)

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Best Casting and Ensemble

Nina Gold – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold – Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme (A24)

Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

WINNER: Francine Maisler – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Costume Design

WINNER: Kate Hawley – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Malgosia Turzanska – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Lindsay Pugh – Hedda (Amazon MGM Studios)

Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella – Kiss of the Spider Woman (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)

Ruth E. Carter – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Paul Tazewell – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Hair and Makeup

Hair and Makeup Team – 28 Years Later (Sony Pictures)

WINNER: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal – The Smashing Machine (A24)

Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins – Weapons (Warner Bros.)

Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Visual Effects

WINNER: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)

Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson – F1 (Apple Original Films)

Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures)

Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams – Superman (Warner Bros.)

Best Animated Feature

Arco (Neon)

Elio (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

In Your Dreams (Netflix)

WINNER: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)

Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

Best Comedy

The Ballad of Wallis Island (Focus Features)

Eternity (A24)

Friendship (A24)

WINNER: The Naked Gun (Paramount)

The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features)

Splitsville (Neon)

Best Foreign Language Film

It Was Just an Accident (Neon)

Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)

No Other Choice (Neon)

WINNER: The Secret Agent (Neon)

Sirat (Neon)

Belén (Amazon MGM Studios)

Best Song

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1 (Apple Original Films)

WINNER: “Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy – KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams (Netflix)

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Drama Series

Alien: Earth (FX)

Andor (Disney+)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

Paradise (Hulu)

WINNER: The Pitt (HBO Max)

Pluribus (Apple TV)

Severance (Apple TV)

Task (HBO Max)

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown – Paradise (Hulu)

Diego Luna – Andor (Disney+)

Mark Ruffalo – Task (HBO Max)

Adam Scott – Severance (Apple TV)

Billy Bob Thornton – Landman (Paramount+)

WINNER: Noah Wyle – The Pitt (HBO Max)

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Kathy Bates – Matlock (CBS)

Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age (HBO Max)

Britt Lower – Severance (Apple TV)

Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us (HBO Max)

Keri Russell – The Diplomat (Netflix)

WINNER: Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus (Apple TV)

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show (Apple TV)

Denée Benton – The Gilded Age (HBO Max)

Allison Janney – The Diplomat (Netflix)

WINNER: Katherine LaNasa – The Pitt (HBO Max)

Greta Lee – The Morning Show (Apple TV)

Skye P. Marshall – Matlock (CBS)

Best Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Elsbeth (CBS)

Ghosts (CBS)

Hacks (HBO Max)

Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)

WINNER: The Studio (Apple TV)

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Ted Danson – A Man on the Inside (Netflix)

David Alan Grier – St. Denis Medical (NBC)

Danny McBride – The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)

WINNER: Seth Rogen – The Studio (Apple TV)

Alexander Skarsgård – Murderbot (Apple TV)

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face (Peacock)

Rose McIver – Ghosts (CBS)

Edi Patterson – The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)

Carrie Preston – Elsbeth (CBS)

WINNER: Jean Smart – Hacks (HBO Max)

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

WINNER: Ike Barinholtz – The Studio (Apple TV)

Paul W. Downs – Hacks (HBO Max)

Asher Grodman – Ghosts (CBS)

Oscar Nuñez – The Paper (Peacock)

Chris Perfetti – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Timothy Simons – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Danielle Brooks – Peacemaker (HBO Max)

Hannah Einbinder – Hacks (HBO Max)

WINNER: Janelle James – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Justine Lupe – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Ego Nwodim – Saturday Night Live (NBC)

Rebecca Wisocky – Ghosts (CBS)

Best Limited Series

WINNER: Adolescence (Netflix)

All Her Fault (Peacock)

Chief of War (Apple TV) 

Death by Lightning (Netflix)

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (Peacock)

Dope Thief (Apple TV)

Dying for Sex (FX on Hulu)

The Girlfriend (Prime Video)

Best Movie Made For Television

WINNER: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Peacock)

Deep Cover (Prime Video)

The Gorge (Apple TV)

Mountainhead (HBO Max)

Nonnas (Netflix)

Summer of '69 (Hulu)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Michael Chernus – Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (Peacock)

WINNER: Stephen Graham – Adolescence (Netflix)

Brian Tyree Henry – Dope Thief (Apple TV)

Charlie Hunnam – Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix)

Matthew Rhys – The Beast in Me (Netflix)

Michael Shannon – Death by Lightning (Netflix)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made For Television

Jessica Biel – The Better Sister (Prime Video)

Meghann Fahy – Sirens (Netflix)

WINNER: Sarah Snook – All Her Fault (Peacock)

Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex (FX on Hulu)

Robin Wright – The Girlfriend (Prime Video)

Renée Zellweger – Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Peacock)

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made For Television

WINNER: Owen Cooper – Adolescence (Netflix)

Wagner Moura – Dope Thief (Apple TV)

Nick Offerman – Death by Lightning (Netflix)

Michael Peña – All Her Fault (Peacock)

Ashley Walters – Adolescence (Netflix)

Ramy Youssef – Mountainhead (HBO Max)

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