“Good idea about the snacks,” says a pre-BAFTAs Jessie Buckley when I probe her on her awards season essentials. “I’ll bring some.” Of course, the Hamnet star is far too busy to dwell too long on which cereal bar to tuck into her Chanel bag, and anyway, her actual ride-or-die product is far more real than a Trek flapjack. “Spanx!” she announces, before admitting that the only downside of awards season is when the shapewear “starts becoming a problem”—that and “missing my little girl when the days have been long, forgetting to pump early doors when I was breastfeeding and having to rush to the toilet to get some relief!”
The highs have made it all worth it. While underwear—both the smoothing base layers required of red-carpet wear and her baby girl’s nappies—has become an unforeseen focus of her Hollywood winning streak, the pinch-me moments (“this does not happen in everyday life,” she frequently reminds herself) outweigh any of the less glamorous aspects that Buckley is so wonderfully candid about. “The peak has been getting to know and hang out with some of my all-time heroes,” she says, name-checking the “bloody lovely” Paul Thomas Anderson, the “mischievous and buzzing” Teyana Taylor, “the rock” that is Kate Winslet (“I’m not even sure she knows she helped me out when I got a bit nervous and overwhelmed, but she did”), and her Hamnet co-stars Paul Mescal and Emily Watson. Her review of the latter? “The greatest woman I get to call a friend.”
Gareth Cattermole/BAFTA/Getty Images
Another new hero is Matthieu Blazy, who welcomed Buckley into the Chanel fold just in time for her ongoing victory lap around Tinseltown. “He is a singular, vibrant artist and I love how he’s been marrying the past with something so present and alive,” she says of the creative director, who recently bestowed a brand ambassadorship on his new Irish friend—pretty much the best gong going in the fashion space.
For her BAFTAs look, then, there was only ever once choice, but Buckley and her stylist Danielle Goldberg found a way into the Chanel-iverse that felt right for a true individual at the top of her game. A blue velvet dress piqued their mutual interest because it reminded them both of the 1986 David Lynch film: “It’s a nod to his wild and wonderful worlds, but also something classic and unique and cool. I’m excited…”
She should be. “I want good vibes all night long,” Buckley adds of her pumped-up playlist, giggle-prone glam squad and “the best snuggles” from her little girl—especially when the evening ends and she can scamper home from the bright lights to bask in the warmth of early motherhood. Not before an absolutely non-negotiable pitstop, though: the ladies! “Honestly don’t underestimate the toilet for a proper chin wag and some light relief,” says Buckley. “It’s a good place to get real with your girls and have a moment to take it all in.”