STARS OPEN UP AS ACCLAIMED FILM HAMNET TO HIT SCREENS

Irish actress on playing wife of famous playwright Movie explores their grief over loss of son Author: Jessie and Paul so right for roles

- BY LYNN RUSK

WILLIAM Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language; his plays have been translated into every major language and continue to be performed worldwide.

Yet little is known about his family life, or the woman behind the world's greatest playwright.

Irish author Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 bestselling novel Hamnet seeks to address this, exploring the lives of Shakespeare, his wife Agnes, also known as Anne, and their family.

Now, a film adaptation directed by Chloe Zhao and starring Irish actors Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, examines the devastating impact of the death of Agnes and William's son, Hamnet - and how it may have influenced one of Shakespeare's most enduring works, Hamlet.

Buckley, 35, who has received a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Agnes Hathaway, says she relished bringing the character's story to the fore.

The Kerry-born actress adds: "I loved bringing the hidden parts of womanhood into the light. You only have to look at his plays to recognise that he must have known and loved a great woman at some point in his life.

"None of us really know who Shakespeare was.

"What catalysed Maggie to write this novel was a desire to reclaim a story that had been misrepresented. What's been written in history feels frosty and archaic. In my heart, I don't believe Agnes was someone who held him back. My experience of women is that, they are deep, epic and complex, tenderhearted, needing and loving, sometimes defensive, because it's hard to need and be met.