Jessie Buckley, actor

Jessie Buckley, actor

From Desert Island Discs by BBC Radio 4

April 5, 2026 · 51 min

About this episode

Jessie Buckley discusses her career as an actor and singer, highlighting her recent achievements and personal background.

Jessie Buckley is an actor and singer. She recently won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award for her critically acclaimed role playing Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s film Hamnet. Her performance has also garnered her an Academy Award nomination. Jessie won an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in a 2021 West End revival of Cabaret. Her breakout film role came in 2018 when she played an aspiring country music singer in the musical Wild Rose. Jessie was born in Killarney in County Kerry to creative parents. Her mother trained as a singer and harpist and her father, who ran a guest house when she was growing up, writes poetry. As a child Jessie and her siblings put on Irish dancing performances for people who stayed in the guest house. In 2008 she appeared in the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything – the televised search to find a Nancy for a West End production of Oliver! Jessie came second in the competition and afterwards Sir Cameron Mackintosh, one of the judges, sent her on a Shakespeare workshop at RADA which she says changed her life. She made her professional stage debut as Anne Egerman in the 2008/2009 revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music at…

People in this episode

Guest: Jessie Buckley

Topics covered

  • acting
  • music
  • awards
  • personal journey
  • theater
  • film

Keywords

  • Jessie Buckley
  • Hamnet
  • Cabaret
  • Wild Rose
  • acting career
  • BAFTA
  • Golden Globe
  • Oscar nomination

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC, RADA

Books & works: Hamnet, Cabaret, Wild Rose, A Little Night Music, the Lost Daughter

Places: Killarney, County Kerry

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