Building the World of 'Hamnet' with Production Designer Fiona Crombie

Summary

Podcast Summary: Building the World of 'Hamnet' with Production Designer Fiona Crombie

Show: All Of It with Alison Stewart, WNYC
Episode Date: February 26, 2026
Guest: Fiona Crombie, Oscar-nominated production designer
Series: The Big Picture

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Overview

This episode of "All Of It" features a deep dive into the artistry of world-building in film, focusing on the Oscar-nominated work of production designer Fiona Crombie for the film Hamnet. Host Alison Stewart explores how Crombie recreated 16th-century England to bring the Shakespeare family’s world to life—balancing authenticity, emotional resonance, and creative interpretation. The conversation reveals the nuance of production design and the collaboration required to support story, characters, and feeling in cinema.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Role of a Production Designer

• Definition (01:33):
  Crombie explains her role as:

  “If you imagine a frame of film…production designer is across the location or the set build… We’re involved in the food that’s on a plate, the color of the curtains, the carpet, as well as the actual architecture… It’s basically everything that’s in a frame that’s not an actor, not a costume, not hair and makeup.”
  (Fiona Crombie, 01:44)

• Impact:
  Good production design “wordlessly informs the audience about ... the backstory of a character or the circumstances. Production design can make you feel something that isn’t said.” (Fiona Crombie, 02:29)

First Impressions & Emotional Resonance

• Initial Reaction to Hamnet (03:05):
  • Crombie quickly sensed “a contrast between this rambling nature ... of Agnes and the structure of Tudor architecture.”
  • The story’s depiction of family resonated:

    "I kept thinking of my family, my children, my mess ... How do I bring that into a period film?"
    (Fiona Crombie, 03:33)

Research and Creative Process

• Two-Pronged Approach (04:22):
  • Crombie gathers historically accurate references and “emotional responses”—images, colors, textures, anything instinctively resonant.
  • She highlights how location scouting, even though the locations were eventually built as sets, helped her "understand the spaces and feel how people lived." (Fiona Crombie, 04:22)

Collaboration with Director Chloe Zhao

• Shared Vision (05:43):

  • Crombie and Zhao quickly aligned on visual tone through image exchanges.
  • Authenticity was paramount:

    “Anything artificial or overdone was just—No. We’re not doing that. We want to ... keep it precise, and personal the whole way through.”
    (Fiona Crombie, 05:43)

• Director’s Instinct (06:38):

  • Crombie’s instinct was for detail and realness—using “reclaimed timbers and vintage fabrics” to create a lived-in feel, and avoiding the stiffness of “admiring period sets.”
  • She wanted the audience to feel "in amongst everything ... the real sense of the daily life of a family."
    (Fiona Crombie, 06:49)

Casting and Character Adaptation

• Working with Cast (07:53):
  • Knowing the physicality of Jesse Buckley (Agnes) shaped the spaces and design choices.
  • Buckley's immersive approach:

    “We did foraging workshops and she played with all her props ... She really gets into it.”
    (Fiona Crombie, 08:13–09:33)

Materials, Texture, and Authenticity

• Tactile Design (09:33):
  • Texture was critical: “We used reclaimed timbers and vintage fabrics ... props that had history ... Every plant in the garden is old, it’s got some little dead bits.”
    (Fiona Crombie, 09:44–10:03)
  • These decisions made the set feel “embedded in a way it’s really hard to do with new materials.”

The Globe Theatre: Fact and Imagination

• Balancing History and Storytelling (11:04):
  • Crombie aimed for “simplicity” over grandiosity (as seen in the reconstructed Globe).
  • The Globe set was scaled down (70% of original) and intentionally less ornate, to evoke origins.
  • Director Zhao wanted “the inside of a tree,” tying the Globe visually to the film’s forest and family home.
  • Some historical liberties (e.g., painted backdrops, stage layout) were taken “to inform story...we wanted to have our forest brought to the stage.” (Fiona Crombie, 11:28–13:28)

Emotional Attachment to Sets

• Letting Go (13:28):
  • Unlike other projects, Crombie felt an unusual emotional connection to the Hamnet sets—perhaps “because we grew gardens or something...those sets had a life.”
  • The entire crew felt “very connected to this temporary dwelling ... that is no longer there.” (Fiona Crombie, 13:43–14:42)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the invisible power of set design:

  “Production design can make you feel something that just isn't said.”
  (Fiona Crombie, 02:29)

• On designing for emotion and history:

  "I always do like a kind of a two-pronged approach. So I'll go historical accuracy and ... an emotional response ... then I'll see where they come together."
  (Fiona Crombie, 04:22)

• On Chloe Zhao’s direction:

  "Authenticity is hugely important to Chloe. So anything artificial or overdone was just—No...We want to keep it precise, and personal the whole way through."
  (Fiona Crombie, 05:43)

• On the importance of tactile history:

  "...using the reclaimed timbers and ... props that had history ... there was just a decision to find anything that brought story or history into the set build. And I think it made the most enormous difference."
  (Fiona Crombie, 10:03)

• On building and letting go:

  “Those sets ... had a life that I haven’t really encountered in the same way. There was an emotional connection that I haven't had. And it wasn't just me. It was like the whole crew.”
  (Fiona Crombie, 13:43)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:33 – What a production designer does
• 02:29 – How design helps the film
• 03:05 – First impressions of Hamnet and the emotional connection
• 04:22 – Research and creative process
• 05:43 – Collaboration and authenticity with Chloe Zhao
• 06:49 – Value of instinct and detail in production design
• 07:53 – Working with the cast, especially Jesse Buckley
• 09:44 – Importance of texture and tactile materials
• 11:28 – Designing the Globe Theatre: challenges and storytelling
• 13:43 – Emotional attachment to the sets

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Closing Thoughts

This episode provides a rare look into the invisible layers of filmmaking—how production design both serves story and silently shapes what audiences feel. Fiona Crombie’s passion for detail, authenticity, and emotional truth brought not just the 16th-century world of the Shakespeares to life, but also a living, breathing sense of family and loss. Her collaborative process with director Chloe Zhao and her ability to blend historical accuracy with creative storytelling make this a masterclass in the art of cinematic world-building.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. World building is an important part of making films. Creating an environment where the characters live and breathe. In the Oscar nominated film Hamnet, we are taken back to the 16th century of England when a young couple lives, loves and then grieves the death of their son. The couple is the Shakespeares, Anya and Will, and they experience the loss quite differently. From lush gardens to the bustling Globe Theater, Oscar nominated production designer Fiona Crombie created these worlds using detail and a bit of imagination. Crombie is known for her diverse work on films like Cruella, Mickey 17 and the Favorite. She was nominated for that film too. This year she has earned her second nomination for Hamnet. And Fiona Crombie joins us now as part of our series the Big Picture, where we recognize talent behind the camera. Hi, Fion. Fiona.

[Wells Fargo Announcer]

Hi.

[Fiona Crombie]

Hi.

[Alison Stewart]

I gave my quick understanding of what a production designer does, but you're the expert. How do you explain what product production designers do?

[Fiona Crombie]

You know, I do it really simply by saying if you imagine a frame of film, like just a scene in a film, the production designer is across the location or the set build. But so it's the broad big picture and then it's the tiny details. So we're involved in the food that's on a plate or the cutlery, the color of the curtains, the carpet as well as the actual architecture. You know, or it could be landscape, even so it's, it could be the animals. I mean, I'm talking about animals sometimes. So it's, it's the whole. It's basically everything that's in a frame that's not an actor, not a costume, not hair and makeup.

[Alison Stewart]

When a production designer has done a good job objectively, how does it help the film?

[Fiona Crombie]

I think what it does is it wordlessly informs the audience about could be just the backstory of a character or the circumstances. Production design can make you feel something that isn't. Yeah, just isn't said. So that's what it can do, really. It can kind of just offer more yeah.

[Interviewer]

So the first time you read Hamnet was to take it in, to take the story in. But when you, you read it again and began to think about the work you would do on it, what came to your mind? What did you see?

[Fiona Crombie]

I think for me, I always am pretty quick with responses. I think I, I felt very much that there was a contrast between this kind of rambling nature and this sort of untethered quality of the character of Agnes and then the structure of Tudor architecture. Like immediately I felt there was a potential with the kind of the contrast of, you know, the really linear graphic architecture and the heavy ceilings and what it would feel for somebody who is comfortable outside to decide to come inside. Yeah, things like that. And, but also crucially for me, I was really struck by the depiction of family and, and the kind of, the way that I related to it. Even though it's obviously a story set centuries ago, I, I kept thinking of my family, my children, my mess, my, you know, my life. And I was like, ah, how do I bring that into a period film?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it's interesting because your job has so much to do. You have to decide what size beds will be in the scene and where cobblestones will go in the yard and what kind of stones those will be. There's just a lot to consider. Where did you start with Hamnet? What was your first thing you, you focused on?

[Fiona Crombie]

I always do like a kind of a two pronged approach. So I'll go historical accuracy and we'll look at, I'll understand what it was and then I'll do like an emotional response. So it's just gathering images from all over the place. Can be, you know, paintings or photography or colors. It can, you know, anything that feels like it's sort of resonating what I'm instinctively feeling about the script. And then I'll see where they come together and where they meet and I'll see what repeats itself. Like what do I keep finding myself drawn to? And so, and then at the same time as I'm doing that, in the case of Hamnet, we were also location scouting. So we were going around and looking at a bunch of buildings with the idea that we would shoot on location, which didn't come to fruition, we ended up building our sets. But doing that, I was understanding the spaces and feeling how people lived. And so that was, that was hugely informative with our set builds, was just spending time in buildings.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest is Fiona Crombie, the Oscar nominated production designer for Hamnet. This is part of our Big Picture series recognizing the talent behind the camera this Oscar season, what conversations did you have with director Chloe Zhao?

[Fiona Crombie]

Do you know, the thing that was really interesting, and I hadn't really clocked this early on, is that what I did when I met with Chloe was I prepared a run of images that, for me, illustrated the tone of the film and the sort of themes and ideas that I was thinking of. And I sent that to her before we met, and she really connected with it. And so in some ways, we didn't have to have masses of conversations. We sort of arrived with, at the start of the project with the kind of understanding. And then for her, having it feel authentic and, like, grounded and, I don't know, embedded was very important. So authenticity is hugely important to Chloe. So anything artificial or overdone was just. No, we're not. We're not doing that. We want to kind of keep it precise, you know, and. And personal the whole way through.

[Alison Stewart]

Chloe. Chloe Zhao says that she brings people together, quote, who have a certain instinct. What instinct served you well on Hemnet?

[Fiona Crombie]

Oh, I think I love. I love detail. So I'm always, you know, like, searching for what I can tell, you know, what I can tell through an object. And I think also we were really keen for. For it to feel very, like I say, real, you know, even though obviously it's a film. So we. We did. I don't know, we brought in lots of really textured elements. Like, we used reclaimed timbers and we used vintage fabrics. But I think the big thing was about trying to loosen it up, you know, so it didn't feel like a documentary or it didn't feel like we were kind of like standing back admiring period sets. It was the opposite. It was trying to bring. Bring the audience right next to the family when they're saying. When they're sitting at the table, you know, And I wanted them to be in amongst everything and for there to be kind of the real sense of the daily life of a family felt very, very important to me. And so that is probably what it was that, you know, I. I was bringing.

[Alison Stewart]

Is the film cast when you come aboard?

[Fiona Crombie]

Yeah. Not. Not everybody, but I knew that it was Paul and Jesse. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

How does the cast make a difference in the work you do? Because I'm thinking about how physical Jesse

[Alison Stewart]

Buckley is, especially in this film.

[Interviewer]

Did you take that into account?

[Fiona Crombie]

Yeah, it does actually make a difference. It's a bit strange when you start a project and you don't have that character because. Or the lead, you know, or the person because you do think about spaces and you. I don't know. I do think about that and I knew. I think it's also really like, it makes such a difference when you see them in costume and hair and makeup and themes. The transformation was incredible. Jessie, she arrived, she had bleached blonde hair and no eyebrows because she just finished the Bride and within 24 hours, she was freckled and she had this long dark hair and like, that became Jessie, you know, because she was always hanging around between takes. And then I remember seeing her at a breakfast line and she didn't have her hair. And I thought, oh, who's that? Like, I totally, like, had decided that. That Jessie was the person with the. You know, Jessie was Agnes. And it was so brilliant. And so. Yeah, and working with her and like doing, you know, we did foraging workshops and she, you know, she played with all her props so that she could really work with, you know, knew how to create, you know, compresses and do various things. So she really gets into it, you know, she wanted to understand it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, I'm sort of interested in sort of the rough hewn nature of the material you had to work with, whether it be the wood or the burlap, how that played into your production design.

[Fiona Crombie]

Yeah, texture is very important. I mean, for me, it was. The thing was, when we decided to build the set, particularly, we always knew we were going to build the Globe. But when we decided to build the Hamnet. Sorry, Hamlet House. Why am I saying Hamlet?

[Alison Stewart]

Henry Street Home. Right.

[Fiona Crombie]

You know what I'm saying.

[Alison Stewart]

I know what you mean.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fiona Crombie]

The Shakespeare House, I should say. It was only nine weeks. We had. Nine weeks was very, very fast to build this enormous house with, you know, a full backyard and everything. And so using the reclaimed timbers and using. We chose props that had history. They might have a break, they might be repaired. You know, there was just a decision to find anything that brought story or history into the set build. And I think it made the most enormous difference for us. It's like every plant that's in the garden is old. You know, it's got some little dead bits and, like, leggy. It's kind of, you know, rambling. All of those things, I think helped it contributed to just taking it and making it feel embedded in a way that it's really hard to just do with new materials. And so, yeah, it was a. It was a very good decision. And that came kind of late, but. But it absolutely informed the film, I think.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest is Fiona Crombie, the Oscar nominated PRODUCTION DESIGNER for Hamnet. All right, let's talk about the globe. The original Globe theater burned. There's a theater on the Orig. What was important to you about getting what. What was important to you about getting right about the globe? And then what was important to you about being able to use your imagination about the globe?

[Fiona Crombie]

Well, what was important was. Was actually just the sense of like there being this kind, well, the circular shape for a start. I mean, ours is smaller, like it's 70% of the. Of the real scale. And what I really wanted to do was I wanted it to feel. To have a simplicity. When we went to visit the globe that stands today, which, as you say, is actually the later globe, there's a grandeur. You know, there's marble columns and gold capitals. And it felt like a next phase, absolutely, than the globe that we wanted to create, which feels. It should feel like it's the beginning of something. And it also needed to feel linked to the aesthetic of the story that we've been telling and the kind of. And the forest particularly. And that was Chloe's direction to me. She said, I want it to feel like the inside of a tree. And so the idea of the circular looking up to the sky through a circle, always, we were always going to honor the shape of the globe and the exterior, the look of the exterior. But when it came to the interior, the real. The significant deviation is that we put the painted backdrop onto the stage, which, you know, our understanding is that, you know, that was something that was starting in Italy at the time, but would not have really. It would not have been in the uk, in England. And, you know, and also we changed the orientation of the side of stage that would not have been there. He would not have been sitting there with access to the stage that way. He would have been up higher on another level. But those. Those changes are about informing story. You know, we wanted him to be closer and to be able to see Agnes in the. In the audience. And most importantly, we wanted to have our forest brought to the stage. And so, you know, we just. We do our own little version. And. And I think it was really important and it really works beautifully.

[Interviewer]

So, yeah, you said this very interesting thing in an interview. You said, we're sor. Funny department in that we have so much run up, we do so much pre production and then we leave it. And it's almost like you're handing over the keys. What was hard to leave behind?

[Fiona Crombie]

Do you know what, like, so often on my movies, I actually have this thing where I'M quite happy just to hand over, see everybody, you know, take it on and, and just go with it. And then I. Because we have to keep moving, you know, we have to be ahead. I don't tend to have an emotional response to my sets, but on Hamnet, I absolutely did. Like, I felt incredibly connected to those sets. And so, I mean, what was really good about it was we were at a studio. So even though we were working ahead and I would be in my office, I could still walk down and, you know, visit the backlot and see what was going on. But I, I don't know if it was because we grew gardens or something. There was something about those sets, you know, they had a life that I haven't really encountered in the same way. There was an emotional connection that I haven't had. And that wasn't just me. It was like the whole crew. We all felt very connected to this temporary dwelling that is no longer there. You know, it's a.

[Interviewer]

But it's on. But it's on film, so you all can always visit.

[Fiona Crombie]

It's on film. I know, I know. And thank goodness. I need my camera roll. There's lots of camera roll.

[Interviewer]

My guest has been Fiona Crombie. She's the Oscar nominated production designer for Hamnet. It was part of our Big Picture series. This interview recognizing the talent behind the camera this Oscar season. Thank you for your time, Fiona.

[Fiona Crombie]

Oh, thank you so much for having me.

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