Jessie Buckley is showing her “Hamnet” co-star Paul Mescal some love in the wake of the Oscar 2026 nominations.
Buckley, 36, scored a nod for Best Actress for her role as Agnes Shakespeare in the historical tragedy film — but Mescal, who played William Shakespeare, was excluded from the Best Supporting Actor category.
After nominations were announced, Buckley reacted to Mescal’s snub in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“Yeah, look, I think he’s extraordinary in this film,” Buckley said. “I know I’ve met a partner for life in doing this with him. I don’t know what to say apart from he is, to me, my absolute. His artistry is something that will continue to grow and be a theme in so many different ways.”
“I know what we created together is something that’s so special to us, and I hold that so dearly in my heart, and there’s no part of Agnes that exists without Paul,” the Irish actress continued. “There’s no part of what I created or what we created in this story which exists without Paul and what he poured into this story. So what is recognized belongs to him as much as him being recognized in his own category would.”
“Hamnet” is up for eight Oscars, including Best Actress for Buckley, Best Director for Chloé Zhao, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.
Buckley is nominated against Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”), Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) and Emma Stone (“Bugonia”).
The nominees for Best Supporting Actor, which Mescal was contending for, are Benicio Del Toro (“One Battle After Another”), Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”), Delroy Lindo (“Sinners”), Sean Penn (“One Battle After Another”) and Stellan Skarsgård (“Sentimental Value”).
Until the Oscars, Mescal was scoring nominations the entire award season, including at the Golden Globes (where he lost to Skarsgård) and the Critics Choice Awards (where he lost to Elordi). He’s nominated for the upcoming 32nd Actors Awards airing March 1.
Mescal previously earned an Oscar nomination for the 2022 coming-of-age drama “Aftersun.”
“Hamnet,” based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, follows William and Agnes Shakespeare coping with the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet.
“Paul, I bloody love you, man,” she said. “And I know loads of other women do in this room too, but tough s–t. I could drink you like water working with you every single day. You’re a giant of the heart and thank you so much for making me a little more human.”
Buckley’s comment about Mescal went viral, prompting her to clarify her remark at the 2026 Golden Globes after winning Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture Drama.
“When I said I could drink Paul like water … I just wanted to clarify what I meant by that,” Buckley told the press backstage, explaining that she “meant that he is essential to … what I discovered as an actor is possible.”
“He brings you to the core of your humanity,” Buckley added of Mescal. “And once you know what that is, you become like water.”
The 98th Academy Awards air Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. on ABC.
