Paul Mescal says Hamnet’s most heartbreaking moment wasn’t in the script

Paul Mescal told Collider that a pivotal, heartbreaking scene in Chloé Zhao’s film Hamnet was not written in the script, and that watching it unfold “whacked me straight in the gut.” The moment centers on Noah Jupe reaching out and Jessie Buckley taking his hand, a beat Mescal said was devised on set.

Hamnet is a feature adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about how Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Hamlet came to be. Mescal plays a young Will who falls in love with Buckley’s Agnes; the story follows their family as they grapple with the loss of their son, Hamnet. Mescal said rehearsing with Buckley and seeing the film in a London studio confirmed the project had reached the emotional level they had aimed for.

The film, described in the source as a Best Picture contender, is celebrating an upcoming UK release on January 9. Mescal also said he was not immune to the audience reaction, noting that communal screenings can open a space for people to express heartache and that the scene’s effect extended beyond the characters to viewers in the theater.

Key Topics

Culture, Paul Mescal, Hamnet, Chloé Zhao, Jessie Buckley, Noah Jupe