Jessie Buckley Got Her Start on a U.K. Talent Show at 17, but Says Experience Was ‘Really Messed Up': 'A lot of Body Shaming'
Jessie Buckley Got Her Start on a U.K. Talent Show at 17, but Says Experience Was ‘Really Messed Up': 'A lot of Body Shaming'
Tereza ShkurtajSun, March 15, 2026 at 11:00 AM UTC
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Jodie Prenger (left) and Jessie Buckley (right) on 'I'd Do Anything' in 2008.Credit: BBC
• Jessie Buckley gained national attention at 17 as a runner-up on the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything• In a recent interview with Vogue, the 36-year-old actress described the experience as emotionally challenging, citing body shaming and pressure to conform to industry standards• Buckley later built her career in theater and film, earning two Oscar nominations and widespread acclaim for her performances in The Lost Daughter and Hamnet
Irish actress Jessie Buckley is now widely recognized for her powerful performances across film and television, but her start in the entertainment industry came long before major awards and headline roles.
Before appearing in acclaimed projects like The Lost Daughter and Hamnet, Buckley was still a teenager trying to find her place in the performing world. Her earliest break came on television in 2008, when she competed on the BBC talent series I'd Do Anything. The show placed her in the national spotlight almost overnight, but the experience was far from easy.
Looking back years later, Buckley reflected on the challenges of stepping into such a public environment so young. "I look back at it and I feel like, 'God, you're so brave,’” Buckley told Vogue in a recent interview. “I don't know if I'd have that courage now. And I don't know if that was kind of innocence or ignorance."
Jessie Buckley on 'I'd Do Anything.'Credit: BBC
Buckley grew up in rural Ireland and had ambitions of performing, but her path into the industry didn’t follow a traditional route.
After finishing school, she applied to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. When the school rejected her application, she was left uncertain about what to do next. That same weekend in 2008, however, the BBC was holding open auditions for I’d Do Anything, a televised competition created to find actors for a West End revival of Oliver! led by theater figures Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh.
Buckley decided to audition on impulse, joining a long line of hopeful performers — and the gamble paid off. She advanced through the competition’s weekly challenges and eventually finished as the runner-up, losing the final vote to Jodie Prenger. Although she did not win the role, the show introduced her to a national audience and gave her a first taste of how demanding the industry could be. Vogue noted that she was criticized for her appearance and posture on the show, with one choreographer stating that she needed to be "much more ladylike."
In her interview with Vogue, Buckley spoke candidly about the pressures she felt during the competition, admitting that she felt "depressed" and "was not well fully."
“There was a lot that was really messed up," she said.
Buckley recalled feeling that the environment involved “a lot of body shaming and bringing me to femininity school,” while she was still learning about herself and her place in the world.
"I was growing into my body," she explained. "I was 17. I was in a moment of discovery. As women, it's such unfair objectification."
Jessie Buckley and Joe Alwyn in 'Hamnet.'Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features
In the future, she really hopes "that a 15, 17, whatever-age woman never has to be brutalized quite like what happened on that show. But I didn’t recognize it fully at the time. I just felt it, which was difficult.”
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In response to Buckley’s Vogue article, the BBC shared a statement, pointing to its “duty of care” policies — which it said had been “strengthened over decades” — and added that any complaints or concerns are treated with “the utmost care and seriousness.”
Despite reaching the final, Buckley chose not to follow the path offered by the show. She declined the opportunity to serve as an understudy to Prenger in the West End production and instead decided to build her career step by step in theater.
One of her early stage roles came in a production of A Little Night Music at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory Theatre. The choice reflected her desire to develop as an actor outside the spotlight of reality television.
The early years after the show were not easy. Speaking to Vogue, Buckley described feeling lost as she tried to navigate the industry and shake off expectations about how she should look or behave.
"When you're told, culturally, in different ways, that you have to kind of mold yourself into a shape that doesn't naturally fit you, in some ways you incubate that messaging and then it becomes self-destructive,” she told Vogue.
Over time, however, Buckley focused on rediscovering her own instincts as a performer and building a career that felt authentic. She began earning attention for roles in film and television, gradually becoming known for emotionally layered performances.
Jessie Buckley in 'The Lost Daughter.'Credit: Everett
Her work in The Lost Daughter, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2022 and marked a major turning point in her career.
Buckley’s latest success has come with Hamnet, where she plays Agnes Shakespeare opposite Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare. The film explores the grief of losing their son, an event believed by some historians to have inspired the playwright’s tragedy, Hamlet.
Buckley’s performance has earned widespread recognition during awards season and even landed her a nomination for Best Actress at this year's Oscars. Gyllenhaal, who has worked closely with Buckley over the years, recently praised her longtime collaborator while speaking about her growing success.
Jessie Buckley (left) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (right).Credit: Rob Kim/WireImage/Getty
“I've known Jessie a long time,” the 48-year-old actress and director told PEOPLE exclusively. “She was in my first film, The Lost Daughter, and I think she's really brilliant. I'm so pleased for her about everything that's happening in the world, seeing her talent.”
The duo also collaborated again on The Bride!, with Gyllenhaal hinting that audiences will see Buckley reach new creative heights in the film: “I think in this movie, it's like next level... I don't think anyone's ever seen what she does in this movie.”
While The Bride! premiered in theaters on March 6, the 98th Academy Awards will air on CBS and Hulu on March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET.
on People
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