Acclaimed actress Jessie Buckley has spoken candidly about the traumatic experience she endured as a teenager on Andrew Lloyd Webber's television talent search, I'd Do Anything. The Hamnet star, now 36, described feeling 'brutalised' and subjected to 'unfair objectification' during the 2008 competition.
A Painful Start in the Spotlight
Buckley was just 17 years old when she competed on the BBC One show, which aimed to find a new Nancy for a West End revival of the musical Oliver!. Despite her youth and talent, she has revealed the profound personal struggle she faced behind the scenes. 'I was in a moment of discovery,' she told Vogue magazine. 'As women, it's such unfair objectification... Back then, I was just trying to move into a space of myself.'
The actress, who ultimately finished as runner-up to Jodie Prenger, admitted she 'wasn't well' during the process, grappling with depression and 'a lot of body shaming'. She expressed a fervent hope that no young woman would have to endure similar treatment today. 'I really hope that a 15, 17, whatever-age woman never has to be brutalised quite like what happened on that show,' she stated.
From Understudy Offer to Acclaimed Career
Following the competition, Buckley was offered the chance to be Prenger's understudy in the Oliver! production but chose to decline. Instead, the RADA graduate forged a formidable career on stage and screen. She built her profile through BBC dramas like War and Peace and Taboo, before earning a BAFTA nomination for her leading role in the film Wild Rose.
Her career trajectory continued upwards with significant parts in HBO's Chernobyl and FX's Fargo. In 2021, she starred alongside Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter. Most recently, she garnered critical praise for her portrayal of Anne Hathaway in the film Hamnet, a role that profoundly impacted her personal life.
Motherhood and a New Perspective
In a deeply personal revelation, Buckley shared that she welcomed her first child, a baby girl, in December 2025. She kept her pregnancy private until showing her bump at a red carpet event in April of that year. The actress is married to a mental health professional known only as Freddie, with whom she splits her time between London and Norfolk.
Speaking on The New York Times Modern Love podcast, the new mother said, 'Everyone is doing great. I mean, everything is different. It’s intense, but I just love it. Love it so much.' She connected her powerful experience filming Hamnet—where she played a grieving mother—with a subsequent intense desire to become a parent herself. 'I think when I was filming Hamnet, I deeply wanted to become a mother myself,' she reflected.
Buckley hopes to impart a message of self-acceptance to her daughter. 'The world needs all of you,' she said. '...there’s no too-muchness. It’s only to be lived fully.' Her reflections offer a stark contrast between her early, difficult entry into the public eye and her current, empowered perspective on life and family.
The BBC and Andrew Lloyd Webber's representatives have been contacted for comment regarding Buckley's statements about the production of I'd Do Anything.
