Jessie Buckley makes history: First Irish actress to win Best Actress Oscar

And there it is. On Sunday night, Irish actress Jessie Buckley made history, becoming the first woman from her home country to win the Best Actress Oscar. The 36-year-old Killarney native took home the coveted statue for her portrayal of Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet, and yes, there were few dry eyes in the house.

Buckley herself seemed in her element – her speech kicked off with a gale of laughter and continued with a line that hit you right in the heart: "It's Mother's Day in the UK, so I want to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos that is a mother's heart." She thanked her eight-month-old daughter Isla, who was probably "dreaming of milk," and her husband Freddie Sorensen, with whom she wants to make "another 20,000 children." It was pure Buckley – grounded, emotional, and perfectly timed.

From Killarney to the Top of Hollywood

Many might not remember that Buckley's career started from a completely different place. She was just 18 when she came second in the British talent show I'd Do Anything, which was searching for a new Nancy for the musical Oliver! The win went elsewhere, but Buckley made a decision that would define the rest of her life: she didn't settle for being an understudy. Instead, she applied to London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduated as a classically trained dramatic actress.

Before her big break, she supported herself by singing at Annabel's, a swanky London club, where, as she herself put it, "the rich people weren't listening." But it was there she honed the skills that would later blow the roof off.

The Years of the Wild Rose and the Beast

Buckley's film debut came in 2017 with the thriller Beast, where she played Moll, a young woman on the violent Isle of Wight. Even then, it was clear a star was being born. The next year brought the role that made the whole world sit up and take notice: Wild Rose. Buckley's portrayal of Rose-Lynn Harlan, a Scottish ex-con and country music dreamer, was so electrifying it earned her a BAFTA nomination.

And here's the best part – Buckley can genuinely sing. She holds eight-grade qualifications in piano, clarinet, and harp from the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The Wild Rose soundtrack hit number one, and she even performed at the Glastonbury Festival. This woman is no mere "actress who sings a bit" – she's a musician who also happens to be one of the finest actresses of her generation.

From Chernobyl to the Brightest Lights of Hollywood

If anyone still had doubts, she well and truly cemented her status in 2019. In the Chernobyl miniseries, Buckley played Lyudmilla Ignatenko, the wife of firefighter Vasily. It was a role that demanded a strong stomach from the viewer – the scene where she tries to get to her dying husband in the hospital is one of the most harrowing of the decade.

Around the same time, she also starred in Judy opposite Renée Zellweger and joined the fourth season of Fargo. In 2021, The Lost Daughter brought her first Oscar nomination (Best Supporting Actress), and it was none other than Olivia Colman who had insisted Buckley play the younger version of her character, Leda.

Since then, we've seen her in Women Talking, where she was Mariche in the Mennonite community, and Alex Garland's psychological horror film Men, in which she carried the entire weight of the movie on her shoulders.

What's the Takeaway?

Buckley is proof that a country singer from a talent contest can grow into one of the world's most respected actors, provided you have enough talent and enough stubbornness. Her role choices have always been brave – she's never gone for safe sympathy votes, but instead for complex, fractured, and utterly human women who could have stepped straight from the pages of a Virginia Woolf novel.

And now it's official: Jessie Buckley is an Oscar winner. And we all know this is just the beginning.

Buckley's key roles at a glance:

• Beast (2018) – Film debut where she immediately showed her claws.
• Wild Rose (2018) – Breakthrough role as a country singer.
• Chernobyl (2019) – Lyudmilla, the firefighter's wife, who touched millions.
• The Lost Daughter (2021) – Young Leda, which brought an Oscar nomination.
• Women Talking (2022) – Mariche as part of a stellar ensemble.
• Hamnet (2025) – Agnes Shakespeare, the role that won the first Best Actress Oscar for an Irishwoman.