Jessie Buckley wins Oscar for playing ‘Shakespeare’s wife’

Irish actress Jessie Buckley made history at the 2026 Oscars. She won the Best Actress award for her powerful performance as Agnes Shakespeare, the wife of the great playwright William Shakespeare, in the film Hamnet. Her emotional acceptance speech at the 98th Academy Awards has already gone viral on social media.

The story of the movie ‘Hamnet’ revolves around the untimely death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet and the profound emotional changes that occur in the couple’s lives after that incident. The movie is directed by Chloé Zhao. It is based on the popular novel by Maggie O’Farrell published in 2020. The screenplay was co-written by director Chao and writer Maggie O’Farrell.

Jessie Buckley became a little emotional while giving her speech on stage after winning the Oscar. She expressed gratitude to her family, co-nominated actresses and colleagues. She especially thanked her husband Freddie Sorensen, who she described as her biggest inspiration. They also have an eight-month-old daughter.

In her acceptance speech, Buckley said, “Today is Mother’s Day in the UK. So I want to dedicate this award to all the mothers in the world. We are all descendants of women who have made it despite countless obstacles.”

On stage, she joked to her husband, “You’re an amazing father, you’re my best friend. I want 20,000 more children with you.” Her comment made the entire Oscar stage burst into laughter and the moment quickly went viral on social media.

Jessie Buckley’s achievement is also seen as a great honor for the Irish film industry. Her performance in ‘Hamnet’ has already been praised at various international awards and the Oscar win is considered a great recognition of that success.