Jessie Buckley wins Best Actress Oscar for Hamnet

Jessie Buckley has won Best Actress at the 98th Academy Awards for her role as Agnes in Chloé Zhao's Hamnet. "We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds," Buckley said in her acceptance speech, noting it was Mother's Day in the UK.

Buckley had already won Best Actress in a Drama at the 2026 Golden Globes. This is her second Oscar nomination and her first win; she was previously nominated in 2021 for Best Supporting Actress for Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter. Directed by Chloé Zhao, the historical drama follows the life of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes Hathaway (Buckley) as they grieve the death of their only son Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe), who passed away at 11 years old from the bubonic plague.

Zhao co-wrote the screenplay with Maggie O'Farrell, who wrote the novel of the same name. As the names Hamlet and Hamnet are considered to be interchangeable, scholars have concluded that the play Hamlet was inspired by the loss of Shakespeare's son.

United Kingdom

jessie buckley, best actress, academy awards, hamnet, chloé zhao, william shakespeare, paul mescal, agnes hathaway, golden globes, maggie o'farrell