Fresh Air — Best Of: ‘Hamnet’ Star Jessie Buckley / Documentarian Morgan Neville

Date: March 7, 2026
Host: Terry Gross (with Anne Marie Boldonado for Morgan Neville segment)
Guests: Jessie Buckley, Morgan Neville
Producer: WHYY/NPR

Episode Overview

This "Best Of" episode of Fresh Air features in-depth interviews with two major artists:

• Jessie Buckley, nominated for an Oscar for her leading role as Agnes Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife, in the film Hamnet—a poignant story of marriage, motherhood, and loss.
• Morgan Neville, Academy Award-winning documentarian, whose new film Man on the Run explores Paul McCartney’s creative journey and personal evolution after the Beatles’ breakup.
  Critic John Powers also reviews the Japanese film Kokuhou, about a gangster’s son driven to succeed in Kabuki theater.

Jessie Buckley on Hamnet, Motherhood, and Craft

Introduction

• Hamnet is nominated for eight Oscars, with Jessie Buckley up for Best Actress, playing a thoroughly imagined version of Shakespeare's wife (03:14).
• The story centers on grief, creativity, and the resilience of a mother after the death of her son.

Reimagining Agnes Hathaway

What Buckley learned about Shakespeare’s wife

• “Well, I think before I'd read this book...what had been written about Shakespeare's wife was—it wasn't great.” (06:21)
• Agnes historically portrayed as an obstacle to Shakespeare, which Maggie O’Farrell’s novel and the film powerfully revise.
• “What Maggie O’Farrell so brilliantly did...was to bring these people...and given them status beside this great man which is full and vibrant.” (06:35–07:16)

The character’s 'otherness' and mystique:

• Agnes seen as 'part witch', deeply knowledgeable about herbs and nature, skilled with animals—a falconer—elements woven into the film’s depiction (07:16).
• “My experience of playing this incredible woman was her uncompromising embodiment and connection to nature and her own elemental nature.” (07:43)
• Buckley discusses the cultural clash of paganism, capitalism, and nascent Puritanism: “At that time...people were beginning to decipher themselves off like machines...and yet this woman was just deeply connected to nature.” (08:53)

Buckley’s Connection with the Role

On being a “wild child” and spiritual curiosity:

• “I grew up around a lot of nature...when you grow up in a landscape like that, your mind and your soul is wild. You know, things just grow because they want to grow.” (09:19)
• “I do. I believe in energy...I believe that, like, you have a conversation with somebody's energy and spirit. Absolutely.” (10:11)

Embodying Grief and Performance Process

Portraying the raw loss of Agnes:

• On the iconic scene of grief: “No, I didn't know that that was going to happen or come out. It...wasn't in the script. I think, really, Chloe [Zhao] asked all of us to dare to be as present as possible.” (11:20)
• On acting with Jacoby Jupe, who plays Hamnet: “We really were a family...we both recognize where we might go, but where that might end, we didn't know.” (11:53)
• “The death of a child is unfathomable. I don't know where it begins and ends. Out of utter respect, I tried to touch an imaginary truth of it in our story as best I could.” (12:18)

Becoming a Mother and On-Screen Resonances

• Buckley got pregnant just after wrapping Hamnet: “A week after I wrapped filming.” (13:17)
• “I wanted to become a mother for a long time and schedules, life...it was hard...becoming a mother is...humbles you down to your knees.” (13:34)
• On not being daunted by the grief she depicted: “I'm not scared to touch the shadowy bits. I like them. They like, help me.” (15:00)
• “The thing that this story offered me, that brought me into this next chapter of my life as a mother was tenderness...” (15:16)
• “A mother's tenderness, it's—it's ferocious, you know. To birth is no joke...the minute something's born into the world, you're always in the precipice of life and death.” (15:47)

Creative Tools: Dream Analysis

• Chloe Zhao and Buckley worked with a dream coach to deepen their understanding of character (18:23).
• “I find dreams really curious things...your unconscious does stir the waters towards that world.” (18:37)
• On creative process: “I write, I collect pictures. I'm like a magpie, you know, music. It spills out of me when I start working like that.” (19:16)

Navigating Two Challenging Roles: Hamnet And The Bride

• Buckley filmed The Bride (Maggie Gyllenhaal’s feminist rethink of The Bride of Frankenstein) before Hamnet (21:14).
• Contrasts two roles: one is about reanimation, the other about irrevocable loss.
• “In Hamnet, that's all about a dead son staying dead...Shakespeare reincarnates his son through the vessel of a story...when the vessel of a story can help you...Touch the things that you can't hold by yourself.” (21:34–22:11)

Working While Pregnant and Motherhood in the Arts

• On filming pregnant: “When we came back to do a reshoot for something, I was eight months pregnant. So they just had to do it from the boobs up.” (22:26)
• “I really loved working when I was pregnant. I thought it was pretty wild experience...I was talking about Monstrosity. And here I was with two heartbeats inside me...” (22:37)
• On boundaries and career: “I will give you everything I got, but I know there’ll be a time when I cannot give you anymore, and that’s gonna be the end of the day. And actually, that really focuses you on set, you know...” (24:05)
• “I will be a better mother to continue to be passionate about something in my life and show my daughter that you don’t have to lose any part of yourselves.” (25:56)
• “It’s hard to be a mother. And to work, that’s like a constant tug because I love what I do. And I’m passionate and I want to continue to grow and learn and fill those spaces that are yet to be filled and also be a mother.” (25:17)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “A mother’s tenderness...it’s ferocious.” – Jessie Buckley (15:16)
• “I’m not scared to touch the shadowy bits. I like them. They...help me.” – Jessie Buckley (15:00)
• “I remember in filming that I was really close to giving birth, you know, and being like, I have this amount of energy. I will give you everything I got, but I know there’ll be a time when I cannot give you anymore, and that’s gonna be the end of the day.” – Jessie Buckley (24:05)
• “I have a feeling that she loves life and that’s a great thing to see in a child. And I hope that’s something that I’ve imparted to her in her...short time on this earth...” – Jessie Buckley (26:32)

Key Timestamps

• 04:42 – Emotional scene excerpt from Hamnet
• 06:10 – Buckley on what’s known about Shakespeare’s wife
• 10:11 – Belief in spirits and being mystical
• 11:20 – Preparing the howling scene of grief
• 13:17 – Buckley’s pregnancy and connection to the role
• 18:23 – Using dream analysis in character work
• 22:26 – Hiding pregnancy during reshoots for The Bride
• 24:05 – Impact of motherhood on her work ethic and boundaries

John Powers Reviews Kokuhou (28:43–33:33)

• Kokuhou is a Japanese film about a gangster’s son obsessed with becoming a kabuki theater star.
• Explores demanding craft, family legacy, outsider status, and the thrill and pain of artistic mastery.
• “For a kabuki actor like Kikuo, what makes you a national treasure isn’t merely doing every dance and gesture to perfection, but imbuing them with a huge, almost mythic emotion." (32:28)

Morgan Neville on Man on the Run: Paul McCartney After the Beatles

Introduction

• Man on the Run documents Paul McCartney’s personal and musical evolution post-Beatles, drawing on newly-accessible archives—home movies, photographs, and interviews (34:56).

Access and Creative Choices

• “Paul married a photographer...they sure took a lot of photos and footage of it. And the texture of that life was just amazing to kind of see what they created.” – Morgan Neville (37:54)
• Neville chose not to use talking-head interviews on camera; audio interviews play over archive footage for a fully immersive experience.

Transition: End of the Beatles and Emotional Fallout

• McCartney was just 27, already a global icon, and suddenly ‘hit a wall’ after the Beatles disbanded (39:03).
• “He’s the one that wanted to keep the band together...when you’re functioning like that and then suddenly you just hit a wall and it’s over, there’s just a sense of grief.” (39:03–40:32)

Public Perception and Emotional Toll

• Paul had to announce the Beatles breakup, taking the public blame even though John Lennon quit first (41:13).
• “Just the PR side of it was a nightmare. And I think Paul hated having to go through that. I mean, this was an incredibly painful period of time...” (41:13)

Healing and Songwriting in Exile

• McCartney retreated to rural Scotland with Linda—creating music as a form of therapy and self-discovery (41:45–44:15).
• “He was writing them for who? For Paul McCartney. Well, who’s Paul McCartney as an artist?” (42:54)
• Composed Maybe I’m Amazed as a tribute to Linda for supporting him during this transformative period.

Songwriting as Therapy

• “As Paul says in the film, it’s the best form of therapy there is. Because song is where you get to understand how you feel. The songs tell you and help you process how you’re feeling.” (43:41)

McCartney’s Relationship with John Lennon

• The film complicates the myth that McCartney and Lennon were permanently estranged in the 1970s: “They were both at odds, but also connected.” (46:49)
• On their musical rivalries: “‘Too Many People’ on Ram had some veiled references...John comes back with a song called ‘How Do You Sleep’, which is...a very harsh, almost kind of character assassination song.” (47:15)
• “Even when they’re fighting, John refers to Paul as his best friend or as his brother. … To talk about John is to keep him alive and keep him in his heart.” (48:54–49:41)

Wings, Solo Work, and Public Perception

• Even as critics took aim at McCartney’s solo work, private appreciation abounded. John Lennon’s son, Sean Lennon, reminisces about playing McCartney’s solo records at home (49:55).
• “They were always paying attention to what they were doing. … John becomes more generous with time and understanding. He knows Paul’s a musical genius...” (50:27–50:56)
• Neville on McCartney’s work ethic: “You don’t work music, you play it. So I think I’m a playaholic, and I think that’s true.” (51:08)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “He’s the one that wanted to keep the band together...and just in 1969, they record Let It Be...He gets married...has a baby...The Beatles break up in September and he moves to Scotland by October 1st.” – Morgan Neville (39:03)
• “Song is where you get to understand how you feel. The songs tell you and help you process how you’re feeling.” – Morgan Neville (43:41)
• “To talk about John is to keep him alive and keep him in his heart. … Underneath everything has to be love, you know?” – Morgan Neville (49:41)
• “You don’t work music, you play it. So I think I’m a playaholic.” – Paul McCartney, per Morgan Neville (51:08)

Key Timestamps

• 37:54 – Neville on using Linda’s home movies and photos
• 41:13 – The narrative around the Beatles’ breakup
• 42:54 – McCartney’s solo songwriting process post-Beatles
• 44:15 – Excerpt from "Maybe I’m Amazed"
• 48:54 – Neville on McCartney’s deep connection to John Lennon

Conclusion

This episode masterfully explores the complexities of artistic identity, loss, and reinvention—from Jessie Buckley’s soulful embodiment of historic and maternal grief in Hamnet to Morgan Neville’s portrait of Paul McCartney’s search for self after the seismic end of the Beatles. Both artists reveal that the crucible of change, whether personal or professional, ultimately yields new forms of tenderness, creativity, and resilience.