This is Jessie Buckley’s year

The flame-haired actor from County Kerry has an impressive line-up of projects. Here’s what you need to know about her busiest year yet

In the past few years, Jessie Buckley turned heads with her phenomenal performances in Wild Rose, Chernobyl and Netflix’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things. 

And it seems the entertainment industry simply cannot take their eyes off her, as she proves she is an in-demand triple threat with starring roles in TV, film and stage.

We feel busy just trying to keep track of all that she has going on. Jessie is the kind of actor who is always engaging on screen, and yet a complete shapeshifter; breaking our hearts as the pregnant wife of a tragic firefighter in Chernobyl, and cracking us up with her absurd antics in the latest season of Fargo. Take note of the diverse range of projects she has lined up, you won’t want to miss a beat:

Romeo & Juliet

The National Theatre in London is taking its production of Romeo & Juliet global, with Jessie starring alongside The Crown‘s Josh O’Connor. Originally intended to run last August, the play was inevitably delayed. That was until the theatre’s artistic director suggested filming the play, and releasing it as an original 90-minute film, to air on Sky Arts this spring. Not just a live performance captured, the play was filmed over three weeks to accurately capture the action and transport the audience to the play’s setting in a more modern Italy.

In a stunning photoshoot with Josh in the March issue of British Vogue, Jessie shared that storytelling and creativity always felt important growing up in Kerry.

“My mum’s a musician and my dad’s a bar manager, but has always written poetry,” she says. “I thikn growing up in the countryside was so nice as there’s always a story. Especially in Ireland, everyone’s yakking on.”

Fargo

Jessie has awed critics with her turn in cult favourite Fargo. The weird and wonderful anthology show is now in its fourth series. Jessie stars as the quirky Oraetta Mayflower, a nurse with a habit of murdering her patients.

The Courier

The pandemic also put the mainstream release of The Courier on hold. A spy thriller based on a true story, Jessie has a supporting role as the wife of an unassuming British businessman who is recruited to become a spy. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne, the man who forms a dangerous partnership with a Soviet officer in an attempt to provide crucial intelligence needed to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. Expected 19 March. 

The Lost Daughter

Jessie just finished production on this film, which sees her perform alongside Normal People’s Paul Mescal. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut is based on an Elena Ferrante novel, and will also star Olivia Coleman and Dakota Johnson.

Ferrante’s 2006 novel tells the story of Leda, a professor who is on a summer vacation near the ocean. She spots a young mother playing with her daughter on the beach. As she becomes entwined with the woman and her unnerving family, it reminds her of her own past traumas. The release date for the film is not yet known.