Cast of Hamnet Film 2025: Full List of Actors and Characters

There’s something quietly electric about watching a pair of Irish leads take on Shakespeare’s family story. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal step into the roles of Agnes and Will in the new film Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the film brings a deeply personal lens to the life behind the playwright. Here’s exactly who plays whom in this 2025 adaptation.

Director: Chloé Zhao ·
Lead actors: Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal ·
Supporting cast: Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Jacobi Jupe ·
Filming location: Ireland (primarily) ·
Based on: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell ·
Release year: 2025

Six key facts, one pattern: the cast is a tight ensemble of Irish and British talent, with a sibling duo at the emotional core.

Who are the two Irish actors in Hamnet?

Who are the Irish actors in Hamnet?

• Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are the two Irish actors in Hamnet (BBC Culture (UK arts outlet)).
• They play Will Shakespeare and Agnes respectively.

What other Irish actors appear in the film?

• Louisa Harland plays Rowan, and David Wilmot plays John (IrishCentral (Irish diaspora media)).
• Freya Hannan-Mills and Olivia Lynes also appear in supporting roles (IMDb (film database)).

The implication: Buckley and Mescal aren’t just names on a poster; they carry the entire emotional weight of the film, and their shared Irish roots give the story a specific cultural texture.

Are Noah and Jacobi Jupe full brothers?

How old was Jacobi Jupe in Hamnet?

• Jacobi Jupe was approximately 12–13 years old during filming (based on his age at the TIFF 2025 premiere).
• He plays both Hamnet and Hamlet, the twin roles at the heart of the story (Rotten Tomatoes (film review aggregator)).

Who plays Hamnet and Hamlet?

• Jacobi Jupe is the sole actor to play both parts.
• His older brother Noah Jupe appears as Hamlet in the play-within-the-film scenes (IMDb (film database)).
• Noah and Jacobi Jupe are full brothers in real life, which adds a meta-layer to the twin dynamic.

What this means: The real-life brotherhood of Noah and Jacobi Jupe isn’t a gimmick—it deepens the audience’s understanding of loss and duality, making the film’s emotional core hit harder than any acting lesson could.

Why is Anne called Agnes in Hamnet?

What is the historical basis for the name change?

• The film adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, which uses the name Agnes instead of Anne (Wikipedia (historical reference)).
• Historically, Shakespeare’s wife was sometimes referred to as Agnes in legal documents, though Anne is more common.
• O’Farrell’s novel and the film choose Agnes to distinguish her from the stereotypical historical figure and to emphasize her independent identity.

The pattern: By renaming her, the film grants Agnes a personhood that the historical record often denies her, making her a full character rather than a footnote.

Where did they film the movie Hamnet?

Was Hamnet filmed in Ireland?

• Yes, the film was shot primarily in Ireland (IrishCentral (Irish diaspora media)).
• Specific location details are not widely reported, but the production reportedly used countryside and coastal areas to evoke 16th-century England.

What specific locations were used?

• No official location list has been released, but the film’s visual style suggests the Irish landscape stands in for Warwickshire.

The catch: The decision to film in Ireland rather than England is a practical one—tax incentives and crew availability—but it also gives the film a visual identity that separates it from other Shakespeare adaptations.

How true is the story of Hamnet?

What disease did Hamnet get?

• Historically, Hamnet died of an unknown illness; the plague is a common theory but not confirmed (Wikipedia (historical reference)).
• The film, based on O’Farrell’s novel, imagines a specific illness (bubonic plague) as the cause (Wikipedia (film reference)).

What did Shakespeare do after Hamnet died?

• Shakespeare’s response is not well documented; the film imagines his grief and creative output (Time (US news magazine)).
• O’Farrell’s novel is a fictionalized account, not a biography.

Why this matters: The historical ambiguity around Hamnet’s death gives the filmmakers creative freedom, but it also places a responsibility on the audience to separate fact from imaginative reconstruction.

Quotes from the cast and crew

“It stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as Agnes and William, alongside Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, and Jacobi Jupe in supporting roles.”

Wikipedia (film reference)

“Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, two of Ireland’s most magnetic young actors, bring a raw, tender chemistry to the screen.”

BBC Culture (UK arts outlet)

“The Hamnet cast includes Joe Alwyn, Jessie Buckley, Jacobi Jupe, and Noah Jupe.”

Deadline (via Instagram, industry news)

“Jacobi Jupe plays Hamnet, the son who dies, and Hamlet, the play-within-the-film character—a dual role that underscores the film’s meditation on loss and art.”

Vague Visages (film analysis site)

For anyone following the production, the takeaway is straightforward: Hamnet is a film built on a superb cast, anchored by Irish talent and a real-life sibling duo. If you’re an Irish cinema fan, the choice is clear: see it for the performances, not the historical accuracy. If you’re a Shakespeare lover, go for the imaginative reworking of a family tragedy. The performances of Buckley and Mescal give the film its emotional anchor.

Related reading: Best Movies to Watch · Movie Showtimes Near Me: What’s Playing in Irish Cinemas Today

For a detailed look at the full cast list for Hamnet, including Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, full cast list for Hamnet provides a comprehensive breakdown of the actors and their characters.

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