Exclusive: Chloe Zhao Jessie Buckley and Emily Watson reflect on the emotional world of Hamnet

Rather than focusing on the playwright’s legacy, the film centres on his wife Agnes, their son Hamnet and the devastating grief that reshapes their family after the young boy’s death during the plague. Led by Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Jacobi Jupe and Emily Watson, Hamnet explores themes of love, loss, faith and creativity through an intimate portrait of the Shakespeare family. Ahead of its streaming debut, the cast and director opened up about the film’s emotional core, their characters and the relationships that brought the story to life.

Director Chloe Zhao, who adapted the novel for the screen alongside Maggie O’Farrell, said she was immediately drawn to the story’s exploration of grief, and the role imagination can play in making sense of loss.

“I was very excited because the story touches on death and impermanence and grief and how the act of creativity and imagination could give meaning to the inevitable suffering that we go through in life. When you have source material like that, it’s gold.”

Jacobi Jupe, who plays Hamnet, recalled how naturally his bond with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal developed during filming, helping them portray a believable family on screen. “We imagined we were this family, and we would all say things and have memories about what had happened. Jessie and Paul, they instantly felt like my mum and dad, and I’m not even kidding. We’ve been like a real family.”

Emily Watson, who plays Mary Shakespeare, sheds light on a character whose protective instincts often come into conflict with Agnes. “Mary is incandescent partly because she’s terrified by the news. Agnes represents everything that is dangerous. This is a time when anything outside religion is not safe. This isn’t the plan she’s had. When Will was a baby, the plague was in Stratford, and Mary was sort of in lockdown with him and managed to keep him safe. That’s an incredibly intense connection, I think, between a mother and child, however your relationship develops over time.”

Jessie Buckley, who stars as Agnes Shakespeare, also reflected on the trust she shared with her co-stars, describing how their connection helped shape some of the film’s most emotional moments.

“He is such a gentle, sensitive, gigantic force of a man. The trust we had between each other as actors allowed us to totally shed our skin and give each other our hearts. Jacobi, he is such a clever, deep little man who knows exactly what is required of him and has such access to go somewhere so deep. He’s so special; my heart is just blasted open by him.”