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Jessie Buckley’s Oscar Acceptance Speech is a Beacon For the Modern Woman
- Katie Zachok
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
History was made at the 98th Annual Academy Awards. Jessie Buckley’s Oscar win for her role in HAMNET was one of her five prestigious Best Actress awards, including the BAFTA Film Award, the Critic’s Choice Movie Award, a Golden Globe Award, and the Screen Actors Guild Award. Her performance has taken the film industry by storm and she is the 4th actress in all of Hollywood to reach this achievement of the “Big Five.”
HAMNET is a film based on a novel of the same name, which imagines how the death of William Shakespeare’s son could have propelled him to write one of the world’s most famous plays. However, it is more than a mere backstory. The film centers not so much on Shakespeare himself as it does on his wife, Agnes (AHN-yes), played by Buckley. The movie resonates with so many, not only because it encapsulates the wild beauty of marriage and family, but also because it addresses many of the deepest human emotions and demonstrates the importance of art as a cathartic language for the expression of grief.
Jessie Buckley’s acceptance speech for this award was filled with fervor, while also remaining consistent with who she is as a woman, with the character she portrays in the film, and with the values the film highlights. She is a living example for the modern woman that strength, grace, and humility all have a place in authentic femininity.
Personal Authenticity
The first thing one notices as Jessie rises to accept her Oscar is her stunning scarlet and pink Chanel gown, which was an intentional nod to the Edith Head gown worn by Grace Kelly at the 28th Academy Awards. Bold colors, sparkly minimalist jewelry, and a sleek silhouette all augment Jessie’s engaging and playful personality. Her ensemble does not overpower who she is as a woman; rather, it draws the eye to her person, where her charm and passion can then reveal more of who she is. Her fashion choices continue a pattern of making adjustments to the elements of her style to reflect the character she is currently representing. Red is an important color for her role as Agnes, and yet it is balanced by soft shades of pink, sending a subtle message that softness and strength are complementary.
However, it isn’t only Jessie’s elegance that is so riveting. Her movements, voice, facial expressions, and eye contact all elevate the words she speaks, revealing her poignant emotions without being performative. One can feel her intense presence, yet she is in full possession of herself and does not need brash motions or vulgar language to command the room. So much of our modern entertainment relies on sensationalism and coarse behavior to attract attention.
Nothing about Jessie’s appearance or demeanor distracts from who she is; all the externals enhance her personality, creating more space for her to be appreciated for her true self.
Humility in Artistry
A confident woman revels in her talents and accomplishments while appreciating the people and experiences that helped to shape her journey. Instead of a perfunctory thank-you to the Academy, Jessie’s first round of thanks goes to all her fellow women in the room, acknowledging how they inspire her and her desire to work with each of them. She goes on to thank her teammates in filmmaking, including director Chloé Zhao and author Maggie O’Farrell. She states, “We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds.” Very much like her character in the film, Jessie is in tune with the women who paved the way for her and the women who have accompanied her in her growth as a person and as an artist. Her humble gratitude in acknowledging that her win was a team effort highlights a deep theme in HAMNET: that art brings us closer to each other, provided you are willing to let it change you. In an interview for the Los Angeles Times, director Chloé Zhao stated that Jessie is a storyteller in her heart. But she also has something else, which is quite rare, and that’s a lack of vanity. Vanity is the enemy of authenticity.”
Jessie expresses particular gratitude for her family and Irish heritage for helping her “to dream and to never be defined by expectation, but to carve from your own passion.” This is palpably felt as her eyes scan the audience for a glimpse of her loved ones, and she makes a special mention that they were able to be there because her home country of Ireland purchased flights for all of them. Jessie is the first Irish actress to ever win an Academy Award, and her pride in her roots comes full circle at the end of her speech as she says in her native tongue, “Go raibh maith agaibh, slán,” or “Thank you very much, goodbye.”
Family Values
Lastly, Jessie focuses on the importance of her own growing family. She expresses love for her husband, Fred, and speaks of her excitement for their continued future together. Then, in a move rarely seen in Hollywood, Jessie speaks to her newborn daughter, Isla, who “is probably dreaming of milk.” She states, “I love you and I love being your mom, and I can’t wait to discover life beside you.” As if the moment wasn’t meaningful enough, she adds that it is Mother’s Day in the U.K. Her heartfelt words beautifully demonstrate that marriage and motherhood are not enemies to pursuing one’s dreams; they often become blended with those dreams and enrich a woman’s experience of them.
These are the very values present in HAMNET, a film which focuses heavily on a female character who remains true to herself as a wife and mother, yet is also challenged to change her world view because she has allowed love to alter her. In a recent interview for the British Film Institute, Jessie eloquently summarizes this paradox: “If you’re a strong woman, it’s not just a hard exterior, and I think Agnes taught me how ferocious tenderness is, by being a mother and loving a man who could contain all of who she was as well.”
In her personal life and in her role as Agnes, Jessie Buckley elegantly and boldly illustrates for the modern woman that artistry, motherhood, and married love are not mutually exclusive. True success doesn’t isolate a woman in her accomplishments; on the contrary, it expands her world, changes her perspective, and helps her to embrace life more fully. On many occasions, Jessie describes how this role has taught her that two intensities can not only coexist, but also complement each other. How poignant then, that she dedicates her Oscar to the “beautiful chaos of a mother’s heart.”
Resources:
For Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, making ‘Hamnet’ was ‘something bigger than the moon.’
Jessie Buckley Accepts the Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-Qv5NJxH2k
Jessie Buckley Closes Her Best Actress Oscar Acceptance Speech With Gaelic Message https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jessie-buckley-oscars-speech-hamnet-gaelic-ireland-irish-1236534305/
Jessie Buckley’s 2026 Oscars Dress Pays Homage to Grace Kelly’s Iconic 1956 Fashion Moment
Jessie Buckley On Becoming Agnes for ‘Hamnet’
@thatcinebuff
Jessie Buckley on Wild Rose, Women Talking, Beast and Hamnet | BFI in Conversation
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