She's been called "the acting world's best-kept secret." But Jessie Buckley's latest role, in the film "Hamnet," may change that. As Rolling Stone put it, people "will be talking about Jessie Buckley's performance for years."

Buckley plays the wife of William Shakespeare (portrayed by fellow Irish actor Paul Mescal). Adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's novel , it's a fictionalized tale about the death of Shakespeare's son, Hamnet. It imagines the tragedy inspired him to write "Hamlet."

Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, as Agnes and Will Shakespeare, in "Hamnet." Focus Features

"I just knew I had to go somewhere mentally, emotionally," Buckley said of her work.

I said, "You have this fire inside you – that's what we see on film."

"I don't know, do you?" she replied.

"I'd say so, in

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