BREAKING: Former Ursuline student Jessie Buckley nominated for Oscar for best actress

Jessie Buckley has been nominated for an Oscar.

The former Ursuline student has received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her role as Agnes Hathaway in 2025’s Hamnet.

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Buckley’s nomination comes soon after her win at the Golden Globes, which saw her take home the award for best actress in a drama.

Her emotional performance has placed her at the heart of this year’s award season which kicked off with her best actress win at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards which followed with nominations for the Actor Awards, formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Baftas, and now the Academy Awards.

“This is not a normal feeling or situation to be in,” she said, as she collected her Golden Globe.

“It was such an extraordinary set to be part of because, you know, you’re telling the story of probably the most famous Brit that ever lived, and we had a Chinese director, a lot of Irish, a mostly Polish crew, beside our British family.

“The incredible women I am honoured to stand beside in this category, I mean Julia Roberts, you are like a hero to us all. Jennifer, Renate, Eva, Tessa, I’d watch you anytime, anywhere, you blow my mind.”

“This is a real honour, I love what I do, and I love being part of this industry.”

The film, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s book about the death of Shakespeare’s son, which inspired him to write Hamlet, was also named best motion picture drama, while One Battle After Another was named best motion picture comedy/musical.

Tipperary North TD, Michael Lowry, said: “Jessie’s success is a source of immense pride for us here in Thurles and right across County Tipperary.

“While she has gone on to international acclaim, we have long known her talent, dedication, and work ethic through her strong links with Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, and her involvement in music and performance locally.

“On behalf of the people of Tipperary, I want to congratulate Jessie and her family, and to wish her every continued success.

“She is a fantastic ambassador for Thurles, Tipperary, and Ireland — and we are all incredibly proud of what she continues to achieve on the world stage.”

Born in Killarney, Buckley spent five years studying at an all-girls convent school at the Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles before going on to join the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything in 2008, aged 17.

The show documented the search for a new lead to play Nancy in the West End revival of the musical Oliver! with Buckley ending as runner up, losing out to Coronation Street star Jodie Prenger.

She went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada) in London and graduated with a BA in acting in 2013.

Her stage career kicked off that same year with the star performing at Shakespeare’s Globe in a production of The Tempest before starring alongside The Holiday actor, Jude Law, in a West End production of Henry V.

Buckley later starred in the TV series adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace in 2016, portraying Marya Bolkonskaya, and made her film debut a year later in Michael Pearce’s psychological thriller Beast alongside Emma actor Johnny Flynn.

She later starred in Wild Rose (2018), a coming-of-age musical drama about a troubled single mother of two and former convict, Rose-Lynn from Glasgow, who tries to follow her dream of becoming a country singer – a role which won her the 2019 Scottish Bafta for best actress.

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In 2020, Buckley starred alongside Jesse Plemons in the psychological thriller I’m Thinking Of Ending Things where a visit to her boyfriend’s secluded family farm changes everything she thought she knew about him.

She also has a string of TV credits including playing Lyudmilla Ignatenko in the 2019 HBO drama Chernobyl and later starred in the hit series Fargo as Oraetta Mayflower.

Her film credits include starring in The Lost Daughter (2021) alongside Olivia Coleman, a role which scored her first Oscar nod for best supporting actress, and the period drama Women Talking (2022) alongside The Crown actress Claire Foy about the true story of a group of women who begin to realise the extent of the sexual abuse they have endured by the men in their religious community after they start sharing their experiences with one another.

More recently Buckley reunited with Coleman in 2023’s Wicked Little Letters and starred alongside Four Lions star Riz Ahmed and The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White in the sci-fi romance Fingernails about a woman who begins to question her relationship despite a controversial test result certifying them as a perfect match.

In 2022 Buckley won the Laurence Olivier Award for best actress in a musical for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in Cabaret.