It seemed as if all of Hollywood was on its feet to celebrate Jessie Buckley’s Best Actress win at last week’s Critics’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles.
But there was one face at a top-tier table that might have caused some British viewers to do a double-take: Coronation Street actress Katy Cavanagh.
Best known to soap fans as bubbly Julie Carp, who spent seven years walking the cobbles and returned briefly last year, she has now reinvented herself as a showbiz ‘momager’ – a combination of mum and manager – and a very successful one, too.
Her two sons – Noah, 20, and Jacobi Jupe, 12 – are set to be the toast of Hollywood thanks to their roles alongside Ms Buckley in the highly lauded Hamnet.
In the tearjerker, Jacobi plays the title role, Shakespeare’s son who died aged 11, while Noah plays an actor performing Hamlet in the Bard’s play said to have been inspired by that tragedy.
Ms Cavanagh, 52, accompanied Jacobi to the Critics’ Choice bash and are both expected at the Globes, where the film, Ms Buckley and co-star Paul Mescal, are among the nominees.
The brothers’ success follows a lot of hard work from the former soap star. ‘She’s put everything into helping the boys have the best start in the industry,’ said an insider.
‘She’s put her own career on the back burner to help them realise their dreams. Obviously she’s not known in Hollywood, so it’s not like her name has particularly opened doors for them, but she’s got them into the industry and is constantly helping them.’
While Noah already has 26 film and TV credits to his name, including the Quiet Place horror films and projects with Nicole Kidman, George Clooney and Hugh Grant, it was his younger brother who was first cast in Hamnet by director Chloe Zhao.Â
Katy Cavanagh’s two sons – Noah, 20, and Jacobi Jupe, 12 – are set to be the toast of Hollywood thanks to their roles alongside Ms Buckley in the highly lauded Hamnet
She is best known to soap fans as bubbly Julie Carp, who spent seven years walking the cobbles and returned briefly last year
He is full of praise for how his mother and father, producer Chris Jupe, encouraged his career, saying: ‘Without them, a) I don’t think I would’ve chosen the same level of jobs potentially, and b) I might’ve not been mentally the way I am right now.’
When they started filming without having found their Hamlet, Ms Cavanagh suggested Noah.
‘Two months into their shoot and I got a call from my mum and Chloe, and they’re very giddy and smiling,’ Noah told Time magazine. ‘They say to me, ‘How would you feel about playing Hamlet?’ It was obviously something you just cannot turn down.’
Jacobi concurs: ‘Honestly, I don’t know how I would be here if it weren’t for them,’ he has said.
While the Jupes are being feted by critics, golden girl Sydney Sweeney was snubbed in the nominations.Â
But it didn’t stop her putting her famous cleavage on show at a pre-Golden Globes party on Friday.Â
