“`html
The author of “Hamnet” has described her Oscar nomination for the film’s screenplay as “very surreal.”
Maggie O’Farrell received the nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside the film’s director, Chloe Zhao.
She noted that while the book “feels like [her] baby,” “the film is a real collaborative effort.”
The film has garnered significant recognition, receiving eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress for County Kerry native Jessie Buckley, who portrays Agnes.
Based on O’Farrell’s award-winning novel of the same name, “Hamnet” offers a fictionalized account of the lives of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes.
The narrative explores how the death of their son may have influenced one of the writer’s most enduring masterpieces, “Hamlet.”
O’Farrell, originally from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, stated that an Oscar nomination was “not something I ever thought would happen to me.”
“It’s very, very strange. It never even crossed my mind,” she told BBC News NI.
The author jokingly added that if she receives a plus one to the ceremony, the privilege would be “hotly contested” between her three children and husband.
“I think I’m going to let them fight it out,” she quipped.
O’Farrell mentioned that her phone had “exploded” with messages, largely concerning her potential red carpet attire.
“Someone’s asked if I’ll wear a Björk Swan dress, and I’m quite tempted, that would be a laugh,” she added.
“I think my teenage daughters would never forgive me.”
Despite high expectations for Irish actor Paul Mescal, Buckley’s co-star in “Hamnet,” he was not nominated, a perceived oversight by many in the industry.
O’Farrell had previously shared with the BBC that she had always envisioned Mescal as her Shakespeare.
However, the nomination marks a second Oscar nod for frontrunner Buckley, who was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the 2021 thriller, “The Lost Daughter.”
The 36-year-old received a Golden Globe earlier this month, setting the stage for a promising awards season in Hollywood.
Buckley told The Hollywood Reporter that she was “thrilled” with the nomination, adding that what she and Mescal created together is “so special to us.”
“There’s no part of what I created or what we created in this story which exists without Paul and what he poured into this story,” she said.
“So what is recognised belongs to him as much as him being recognised in his own category would.”
Speaking about Buckley’s nomination for the Best Actress award, O’Farrell expressed her delight.
“I’m just so thrilled for her,” she said.
“She just poured her heart and her soul and her bones into that role.”
O’Farrell added: “She’s just mesmerising. You cannot take your eyes off her on screen.”
Buckley’s mother, Marina, was asked if it was surreal to hear her daughter’s name being announced on stage.
“Oh, it absolutely is,” she told Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
“I’ve seen Hamnet several times and each time I just sit there I am in awe of the work, and I have to pinch myself and say that’s my little girl up there.”
She said she was “so proud” of her daughter “because this is the culmination of a lifetime, years and years of work.”
“It’s so wonderful that it’s been recognised now. I am just really thrilled. What an achievement for all of them.”
In Buckley’s native County Kerry, relatives gathered in Killarney to watch the announcement of the actress’s nomination.
Her cousin, Brendan Fuller, said everyone across Ireland had been “swept up” in Oscar excitement, likening the Hollywood ceremony to the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) All-Ireland Final.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be delighted. It’s a great achievement to make the final in the first place so fingers crossed the ball goes her way on that day in March,” he said.
Her uncle, Sean Buckley, said the family were “over the moon” at her second Oscar nomination.
Her aunt, Carol Dempsey, said she had “worked really hard her whole life.”
“She’s chosen roles that are challenging and that tell a story, and she says that she’s a storyteller and she tells a great story.”
The nominations for Hollywood’s most coveted awards were announced by actors Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Thursday.
Vampire horror film Sinners broke the record for the most Oscar nominations received by a single film with 16 nods, followed by thriller One Battle After Another, which picked up 13 nominations.
She was cool, calm and collected in the castle and even her opponents say that she “played a blinder”.
The best friend of Traitors finalist Rachel Duffy say “candles are lit” as the show reaches a climatic end.
Gordon Lyons was investigated over a Facebook post published during racist violence last summer.
William Lloyd-Lavery was told by the judge at Belfast Crown Court that “a sentence of imprisonment is likely”.
A signed summary of BBC Newsline.
“`