Jessie Buckley Tells Hamnet Costar Paul Mescal “I Could Drink You”

Originally appeared on E! Online

All the world’s a stage for Jessie Buckley.

And while onstage at the Critics Choice Awards 2026 to accept her Best Actress prize for her performance in Hamnet, the actress couldn’t help but to rave about her costar Paul Mescal.

“I bloody love you, man,” Jessie quipped during the Jan. 4 ceremony at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. “I know loads of other women do too, but tough s–t.”

“I could drink you like water, working with you every single day,” the 36-year-old continued. “You are a giant of the heart. Thank you so much for making me a little bit more human.”

Paul’s response? The Normal People alum blew her a kiss before humbly putting his head in his hands.

But this wasn’t the first time Jessie—who tied the knot in 2023 with a mental health worker she’s only publicly identified as Freddie—sang her praises for the 29-year-old.

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“I feel like I’ve met somebody so significant and giant in my life in working with Paul on this,” she told Refinery29 in December. “He has such a gigantic human heart, and he’s such a team player. He holds the biggest parts of you. He can drink a case of you, and not many people can, especially co-leads.”

Matt Winkelmeyer / Staff / GETTY IMAGES

Calling Paul a true “movie star,” Jessie added, “Not many people can just, with absolute care and courage, help you to tell the story.”

And the love goes both ways for the costars, who played lovers in their historical drama. In fact, Paul—now dating Gracie Abrams—said Jessie’s performance as Agnes Shakespeare to his William Shakespeare is “going to be studied in drama schools” for years to come.

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association

“Actors around the world, if you want to see what great acting is, not only just watch Hamnet,” he told the outlet, “watch anything that Jessie has ever been in, and you’d be well fed.”

To see who else won at the Critics Choice Awards, read on…

Best Young Actor/Actress

Everett Blunck – The Plague (Independent Film Company)

WINNER: Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Cary Christopher – Weapons (Warner Bros.)

Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)

Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Patrick Ball – The Pitt (HBO Max)

Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV)

Ato Essandoh – The Diplomat (Netflix)

Wood Harris – Forever (Netflix)

Tom Pelphrey – Task (HBO Max)

WINNER: Tramell Tillman – Severance (Apple TV)

Best Picture

Bugonia (Focus Features)

Frankenstein (Netflix)

Hamnet (Focus Features)

Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Marty Supreme (A24)

WINNER: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Sentimental Value (Neon)

Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Train Dreams (Netflix)

Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Actor

WINNER: Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme (A24)

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams (Netflix)

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent (Neon)

Best Actress

WINNER: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)

Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)

Emma Stone – Bugonia (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

WINNER: Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Paul Mescal – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value (Neon)

WINNER: Amy Madigan – Weapons (Warner Bros.)

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Best Director

WINNER: Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Ryan Coogler – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme (A24)

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value (Neon)

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Best Casting and Ensemble

Nina Gold – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Douglas Aibel, Nina Gold – Jay Kelly (Netflix)

Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme (A24)

Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

WINNER: Francine Maisler – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Costume Design

WINNER: Kate Hawley – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Malgosia Turzanska – Hamnet (Focus Features)

Lindsay Pugh – Hedda (Amazon MGM Studios)

Colleen Atwood, Christine Cantella – Kiss of the Spider Woman (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions)

Ruth E. Carter – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Paul Tazewell – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Hair and Makeup

Hair and Makeup Team – 28 Years Later (Sony Pictures)

WINNER: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Siân Richards, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox, Mia Neal – The Smashing Machine (A24)

Leo Satkovich, Melizah Wheat, Jason Collins – Weapons (Warner Bros.)

Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier, Laura Blount – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Visual Effects

WINNER: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)

Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson – F1 (Apple Original Films)

Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell – Frankenstein (Netflix)

Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures)

Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams – Superman (Warner Bros.)

Best Animated Feature

Arco (Neon)

Elio (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

In Your Dreams (Netflix)

WINNER: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)

Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)

Best Comedy

The Ballad of Wallis Island (Focus Features)

Eternity (A24)

Friendship (A24)

WINNER: The Naked Gun (Paramount)

The Phoenician Scheme (Focus Features)

Splitsville (Neon)

Best Foreign Language Film

It Was Just an Accident (Neon)

Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)

No Other Choice (Neon)

WINNER: The Secret Agent (Neon)

Sirat (Neon)

Belén (Amazon MGM Studios)

Best Song

“Drive” – Ed Sheeran, John Mayer, Blake Slatkin – F1 (Apple Original Films)

WINNER: “Golden” – Ejae, Mark Sonnenblick, Ido, 24, Teddy – KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

“I Lied to You” – Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson – Sinners (Warner Bros.)

“Clothed by the Sun” – Daniel Blumberg – The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)

“Train Dreams” – Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner – Train Dreams (Netflix)

“The Girl in the Bubble” – Stephen Schwartz – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Best Drama Series

Alien: Earth (FX)

Andor (Disney+)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

Paradise (Hulu)

WINNER: The Pitt (HBO Max)

Pluribus (Apple TV)

Severance (Apple TV)

Task (HBO Max)

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Sterling K. Brown – Paradise (Hulu)

Diego Luna – Andor (Disney+)

Mark Ruffalo – Task (HBO Max)

Adam Scott – Severance (Apple TV)

Billy Bob Thornton – Landman (Paramount+)

WINNER: Noah Wyle – The Pitt (HBO Max)

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Kathy Bates – Matlock (CBS)

Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age (HBO Max)

Britt Lower – Severance (Apple TV)

Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us (HBO Max)

Keri Russell – The Diplomat (Netflix)

WINNER: Rhea Seehorn – Pluribus (Apple TV)

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show (Apple TV)

Denée Benton – The Gilded Age (HBO Max)

Allison Janney – The Diplomat (Netflix)

WINNER: Katherine LaNasa – The Pitt (HBO Max)

Greta Lee – The Morning Show (Apple TV)

Skye P. Marshall – Matlock (CBS)

Best Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Elsbeth (CBS)

Ghosts (CBS)

Hacks (HBO Max)

Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)

The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)

WINNER: The Studio (Apple TV)

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Adam Brody – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Ted Danson – A Man on the Inside (Netflix)

David Alan Grier – St. Denis Medical (NBC)

Danny McBride – The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)

WINNER: Seth Rogen – The Studio (Apple TV)

Alexander Skarsgård – Murderbot (Apple TV)

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Kristen Bell – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face (Peacock)

Rose McIver – Ghosts (CBS)

Edi Patterson – The Righteous Gemstones (HBO Max)

Carrie Preston – Elsbeth (CBS)

WINNER: Jean Smart – Hacks (HBO Max)

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

WINNER: Ike Barinholtz – The Studio (Apple TV)

Paul W. Downs – Hacks (HBO Max)

Asher Grodman – Ghosts (CBS)

Oscar Nuñez – The Paper (Peacock)

Chris Perfetti – Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Timothy Simons – Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Watch the Critics Choice Awards 2026 live Sunday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m. on E! and USA Network.