Jessie Buckley Rises as Oscars Contender This Season

After bursting onto the showbiz scene as a talent show contestant, 's latest performance in period film Hamnet has made her a leading awards contender.

The actress, 36, has so far picked up all the awards she was nominated for this season, including a , and Critics' Choice Award.

She is now tipped to win an Oscar for Best Actress at the ceremony next month.

On Sunday, Jessie won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 2026 Actor Awards in for her performance in the movie.

Taking the stage, an emotional Jessie told the audience: 'I have been categorically changed by so many people in this room and beyond.'

'To get to work with my heart in my hand and stand beside my brilliant, daring friends who show me their heart, I mean, what a way to spend a life,' she said.

Following her win, fans took to X to share their prediction for Jessie at the upcoming Oscars.

They penned: 'Jessie Buckley is the only Oscar guarantee, WOW. Every other actor race is wide open', 'Jessie Buckley has that Oscar in the bag already I KNOW IT',

'Jessie Buckley is SWEEPING everything!! Oscar locked fr', 'Genuinely love that the only certainty we have is that',

'Jessie Buckley is getting that Oscar…. Excited to see the outcome for the rest of the categories', 'JESSIE BUCKLEY THAT OSCAR IS YOURS.'

It was announced in January that Jessie has earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Hamnet.

She will attend the March 15 ceremony in Los Angeles as a nominee, four years after she earned a nod for The Lost Daughter.

Actress in a Leading Role will be a highly competitive field as Jessie goes up against Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue, Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value and Emma Stone - Bugonia.

Jessie said she is 'so proud and honoured' to have been nominated for her portrayal of Agatha Shakespeare.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, she said: 'My baby's screaming in the background, but I am thrilled. I'm so proud and honoured to be beside all those extraordinary women and to be there with Hamnet. I'm delighted.'

Hamnet is nominated for a total of eight awards, including the coveted Best Picture accolade and Best Director for Chloe Zhao, but Paul Mescal was a surprise snub in the Best Supporting Actor category.

The film - about the death of William Shakespeare and Agnes Shakespeare's son Hamnet - has received wide critical acclaim following its release in January.

It has picked up top gongs during the awards season so far, and looks set to be a big winner at the  in the coming weeks.

Particular praise has been made for Jessie, who plays central figure Agnes Shakespeare and follows her journey in the life and death of her son.

The film explores how that loss shapes both her family and, indirectly, the creation of one of Shakespeare's greatest works, Hamlet.

One person who will not be shocked if she wins an Oscar is  - who knew she was destined for greatness when she competed against 11 other hopefuls for a role in his West End show.

The Irish actress was just 18 when she appeared on 2008  show I'd Do Anything in a bid to land the role of Nancy - narrowly being pipped to the post by Jodie Prenger.  

While she ultimately lost out to Jodie in the public vote, Andrew was said to have been backing Jessie for the part. 

Show judge Denise Van Outen revealed previously: 'Andrew was gutted she didn’t win. He said one of her performances was, "The best he’d every heard from somebody her age."

'I’m not at all surprised she’s gone on to do great things.' 

Yet while Jessie may not have landed the role, she still went on to achieve career success. 

Hamnet has proved to be life-changing for Jessie, who not only has seen a career boost, but inspired her to take on her greatest role - motherhood. 

The fiercely private actress revealed she was pregnant in April when she showed off her baby bump at a red carpet event, yet did not publicly announce the birth. 

Instead, she merely made reference to the fact she was the mother of a daughter during the promotional trail for Hamnet.  

Jessie became pregnant just a week after filming her role as a grieving mother, telling how the part brought out an 'intense need to become a mother'. 

She explained on The New York Times' Modern Love podcast: 'I’m not surprised I got pregnant a week after I finished filming because I had coaxed... it was also quite intense to have that need while I was in this place of absolute mother and it not be a real thing yet.' 

Jessie continued: 'There was moments where it broke my heart because I was living this altered world, where I was absolutely that. Well, just be patient...

'I think when I was filming Hamnet, I deeply wanted to become a mother myself.

'And it was such a gift to move through this woman and her motherhood and her love and her loss before I became a mother myself.

'And I think even getting pregnant and throughout my pregnancy and how I was thinking about what kind of birth I wanted and how I would be autonomous in choosing that as much as I could was very empowering.'

Jessie's pregnancy reveal came a year after she married her secret boyfriend - known only as 'Freddie'.

She has refused to reveal the identity of her mysterious partner - but it has now emerged that they tied the knot one year ago and he is a mental health professional who lives in Islington, north London.

The couple split their time between London and Norfolk where the actress moved to in 2022.

For now, Jessie is taking time out to focus on motherhood, yet it will be interesting to see what she chooses for her next project, having admitted that becoming a parent 'refocused' her. 

Speaking to CBS, she shared: 'I feel raw after having had a child and in a really refreshing way.

'It feels alive. You cut the bulls**t and you become more honest and you become more focused about what's important.'

Asked how motherhood 'refocused' her, she mused: 'My heart is cracked open in a way that you can't even really know until you've experienced what that is.

'I think before I would've probably been scared of how vulnerable that is and now I want that humanity and the strength and vulnerability of being a mother and loving like that.' 

While it remains to be seen what Jessie will pick for her first post-partum role, fans won't have long to wait to see her on screens once more. 

The actress has a leading role in The Bride!, which is set for release this year. 

Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, the monster film is inspired by the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein and sees Jessie take on the role of a murdered woman who is revived to serve as a companion of Frankenstein’s monster. 

Jessie stars alongside the likes of Peter Sarsgaard, Jake Gyllenhaal and Penélope Cruz in the film, while Christian Bale takes on the role of the monster. 

She previously compared the stark contrast between The Bride! and Hamnet, revealing she had just two weeks off between filming the monster movie and the historical drama. 

Comparing the two, she mused: 'If Hamnet is like putting your hand in kind of clay and earth - The Bride of Frankenstein is like being plugged into an electrical socket with petrol running through it. It was incredible.' 

The Bride! is scheduled for worldwide release on March 6.