Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley attend Dublin premiere of Hamnet

Following their success at securing Golden Globe nominations earlier this week for their performances in Hamnet, Irish actors Paul Meskell and Jesse Buckley are due to hit the red carpet in Dublin tonight. The historical drama centred around the struggle by William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes to come to terms with the loss of their son. And it's having its Irish premiere at the Lighthouse Cinema in Smithfield where our arts and media correspondent Evelyn O'Rourke is there. And Evelyn, it really is the movie of the moment. Well, as you can see, I am joined here this evening and we are right here with Jesse Buckley. Just arrived here for the premiere. Jesse Buckley, how are you feeling about being here this evening? Oh, I feel great. I always love coming back to Ireland. I feel so excited about sharing this film in Ireland. There's so many Irish people involved in this film and Maggie O'Farrell who wrote the book and, you know, it's always beautiful to share things with people that know you the most. And being back home means the world. We have to talk about awards buzz. I'm so sorry. I'm sure you're tired of it already, but congratulations on your Golden Globe nomination. But how do you feel about all that? Because you're very sincere about your work. It's real. It's very serious for you. I feel so I mean, I'm delighted. I'm so you never think about these things when you're making the film. I'm so proud of this film. I absolutely loved making this film with all these incredible artists. And all you ever hope for when you make a work is that it touches people's hearts. And the biggest prize so far is that people have been really touched by this film and this story. And that's all I can think about right now, that my little baby. But finally, then, what are you hoping audiences will get from this film? Because there's such anticipation out here in Ireland for people to see it. They can take whatever they want to. You know, I think the art of storytelling is that it allows people to go on a journey that they least expect. So whatever brings them to the cinema and whatever way this film touches their heart. That's all. That's what I hope is that they keep their heart open to let whatever needs to come out, out. OK, finally, finally, because I always have to have a finally, finally. I know you travel the world with these films, but being in Ireland, being back for the premiere, the Irish premiere, that must mean something special, particularly when you've got Paul Meskell as your co-star as well. We're all so proud of you here. Oh, like me and Paul are kind of, I call him my journeyman. Like he's my kind of sparring partner, but he's my life partner. And we both, I mean, being growing up in this country is so part of our, you know, our expression and we share so much in what we is important to us about the work we make. And I, yeah, it kind of dawned on me today when I woke up. I was like, oh, wow, we're going to be sharing this together here. And, you know, both being from here, it's a beautiful moment. Friends and family gathering. Yes, my mom is here and she works in Crumlin. So a lot of her colleagues who work in the palliative care unit and the neonatal palliative care unit are here tonight with her. So loads of support. Yeah. So what's the next thing? You've got the premiere tonight and then I mean, obviously, you can have a little rest or whatever, but Christmas coming with a baby. Yeah, I'm just going to put on my tracksuit pants that I've got holes in them. Light the fire, cook a big ham and turkey. And yeah, be at home with the family. I think you might recognize the gentleman is coming over there. I do. Yeah. Do you want to call him over there? Paul, come on over here and say hello to us. Paul, you're live on the news, would you believe? Live on the news? No we're not. How big a star you are now. Tell me about what it means to you to be here. It's brilliant. I didn't know we were live. I know. Have I got bright red? No, you're doing great, love. It's good. Yeah, I know this is the biggest moment of your career. It just wasn't expected. I know. Come here. Tell me though, being here with Jessie, being here in Ireland, bringing this film, this special film home, what does that mean? It's so special. I've done this a couple of times now coming home and it's to bring this back with Jessie and Maggie and Chloe. It's just see people waiting out there and there's real excitement around the film and it's just wonderful to take it home. Yeah. I suppose the big thing is, Jessie and I, she very nicely deflected it, the awards, the nomination buzz. I know you try and disregard it, but people are so excited for you. What does that mean to you? That's very well put. It's like a byproduct of excitement around the film. And it's a it's a wonderful compliment. And it's kind of something that I'm going to deflect to the next person that's going to come and answer. But yeah. But getting the nomination and then obviously Oscar buzz, I know you're not going to even talk about that. But it is an affirmation of something. But you've taken a risk with this. It's a it's a big film. It's an important film. Yeah, it is. We're telling the story about Shakespeare and his family, and we took it incredibly seriously. And there's there's a there's a feeling of pride and kind of reverence to do with this man's work. And we tried to remove the reverence when we were making it. But I'm glad that there is a kind of desire for people to to go out and see it. You know, it's great. We heard a great story today that you orchestrated a meeting with Chloe Zhao. She told a great story about this. You really wanted this role. I did really want this. Why? Because I think I had an idea about how I could go about doing it. And I wanted to work with Chloe and I wanted to work with Jesse. And I felt like it would have been the perfect opportunity for it to happen. And I'm very happy that it was a great start. Well done. Off you go. Lots of people want to talk to you this evening. Thank you for stopping and talking to us. Have an amazing evening. Thank you. Well, there you go. That's the buzz here from Hamnet as they make their way through to this film. That's getting such an awards buzz at this point. Well, I think it's time for back to studio. Lovely. Thank you. The Evelyn, Paul and Jesse show live from Smithfield. Thank you.