Jessie Buckley says she and Paul Mescal took a tantric workshop to prepare for Hamnet

People reports that Jessie Buckley said she and costar Paul Mescal completed a tantric workshop to prepare for their roles in Hamnet. Mescal, 29, and Buckley, 36, portray William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, in the film adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel, and both spoke with British Vogue in an article published Tuesday, Jan.

6. Mescal recalled their chemistry read was "intuitive and sexy and curious," while Buckley said the actors spent time in New York going to "a club called Joyface in the East Village and [dancing] to Abba" when they were in town for other projects. Buckley also said director Chloé Zhao had the actors complete a workshop in which they pretended to embody a lingam and yoni, which represent human reproductive organs in tantric practice.

Buckley described the exercise as awkward at first: "The first three minutes of it were excruciatingly embarrassing. Youre like: 'Weve been a penis and a vagina in front of each other, so lets just go.'" Zhao previously said at Hamnet's November premiere in N.Y.C.

Key Topics

Culture, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Chloé Zhao, Hamnet, Maggie O'farrell