When Oscar favourite Jessie Buckley, 17, first found fame on TV talent show I'd Do Anything
13 March 2026, 17:13
The Oscar-nominated Hamnet star has spoken about the BBC competition that first brought her to national attention.
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Jessie Buckley is an award-winning actor, a Golden Globe winner and an Oscar nominee for her performance in Hamnet.
But long before the Hollywood premieres and awards-season buzz, the Irish star first appeared on TV as a teenager competing on a BBC talent show.
In 2008, a then-unknown Jessie Buckley took part in the series I’d Do Anything, which set out to find a new Nancy for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End revival of Oliver!.
She was just 17 when she entered the competition, and ended up finishing second to eventual winner Jodie Prenger.
Nearly two decades later, Jessie Buckley has reflected on that early chapter of her career, acknowledging both the opportunities and the difficulties that came with the sudden public exposure when she was so young.
Jessie told Vogue she now sees the teenager she was with a fresh perspective.
“I look back at it and I feel like, 'God, you're so brave.' I don't know if I'd have that courage now. And I don't know if that was kind of innocence or ignorance.”
At the time, she says she was still navigating adolescence while suddenly finding herself in the spotlight. “And I was growing into my body,” she said.
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“I was 17. I was in a moment of discovery. As women, it's such unfair objectification.”
Jessie Buckley later described the atmosphere around the show as “a lot of body shaming and bringing me to femininity school”.
“I really hope that a 15, 17, whatever-age woman never has to be brutalised quite like what happened on that show.
“But I didn't recognise it fully at the time. I just felt it, which was difficult.”
Despite the challenges, she says the experience never made her regret stepping into the spotlight.
“I don't like that part of it. I think that was a young woman who's trying to discover her body and herself, like we all do. And I wish that hadn't happened.”
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Speaking about the experience later on Desert Island Discs, Jessie said that at the time, she had simply hoped for a chance to perform.
“I think I was putting a brave face on, because really what I wanted to do was sing and I wanted to act, and I wanted to be part of this industry, and all of a sudden you had to be a certain kind of person.
“And I just wasn't, I never will be. That's just not me.”
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After finishing as runner-up, Buckley made a crucial decision that shaped her career. Instead of remaining closely tied to the production, she declined an offer to understudy the role of Nancy and instead pursued other theatre opportunities in London.
I'd do anything - Final - Jessie
She later admitted that the early years of her career were far from straightforward. “I was just lost. When you're told, culturally, in different ways, that you have to kind of mould yourself into a shape that doesn't naturally fit you, in some ways you incubate that messaging and then it becomes self-destructive.
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“Once I realised that, my life goal has been to unravel myself from the sort of miseducation, from stories that don't actually serve me, and just find life.”
The decision ultimately paid off. Buckley built a steady stage career before transitioning into film and television roles that showcased her remarkable emotional range.
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Since those early television days, Jessie Buckley has built one of the most impressive careers of her generation. The actor, originally from Killarney in County Kerry, has become known for a string of acclaimed performances across film, television and theatre.
Her role as Agnes Hathaway in Hamnet, director Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel, has placed her firmly in the spotlight once again, this time as an Oscar-nominated performer.
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The performance has also seen Jessie dominate the 2026 awards season, winning both the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Actress for the role.
But in many ways, Buckley’s appearance on I’d Do Anything captured something that still defines her career today: a fearless young performer stepping onto a stage and giving everything she had.
And, as she now says herself, it’s a moment she wouldn’t change. “I'm so proud of that girl. I think she did great and I don't regret any of it.”
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