Oscar-winning actress Jessie Buckley is preparing to take a significant pay cut for her return to the London stage in 2028, where she will earn the same daily rate as every other performer at the Royal Court Theatre.
The 36-year-old Irish performer, who won Best Actress at this year's Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs for The Lost Daughter, will star in Afterbirth, a new play by the theatre's associate playwright Nina Segal, described as "a story about the disorienting reality of life after birth".
Company rate for the production
Buckley, who welcomed her first child with husband Freddie Sorensen last year, will appear in director Maria Aberg's production from January 15 to February 26, 2028. Royal Court artistic director David Byrne told The Times that Buckley will receive the same "company rate" of £140 per day as every actor performing at the theatre.
This rate is based on West End union agreements, with reports indicating Buckley will be paid £971 per week, during which she will perform eight times.
Hollywood stars at the Royal Court
Buckley is not the first high-profile actor to accept this arrangement at the Sloane Square venue. John Lithgow and Gary Oldman have performed there in recent years, while Tilda Swinton has just finished performing in Manfred Karge's Man to Man in the 400-seat space.
The Royal Court's 2027 and 2028 season includes a Broadway transfer of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's Tony-winning play Purpose, alongside six world premieres. Tobias Menzies will star opposite V (formerly known as Eve Ensler) in The Apology, and Olivier Award-winning actress Juliet Stevenson will appear in The Briar Patch, a domestic thriller directed by Byrne.
Return to the London stage
Buckley's return marks her first London performance since 2022, when she played the lead role of Sally Bowles in Rebecca Frecknall's immersive revival of Cabaret opposite Eddie Redmayne, with both stars winning Olivier Awards. She previously performed at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Noel Coward Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe, having risen to fame as a contestant on Andrew Lloyd Webber's reality TV show I'd Do Anything.
