Jessie Buckley has says she was “brutalised” on the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, which she participated in as a teenager.
Buckley’s career began when she finished as runner-up on the Andrew Lloyd Webber-led talent show in 2008, when she was just 17 years old. Webber was searching for an unknown actress to play Nancy in a West End production of Oliver!, as well as a boy to play the title character. The show was won by Jodie Prenger, who went on to star in Coronation Street and has been involved in numerous touring theatre productions.
The actress, who is currently starring opposite Paul Mescal in historical drama Hamnet, admitted that she was “not well fully” and had depression at the time.
“There was a lot that was really messed up,” she told Vogue, pointing to “a lot of body shaming and bringing me to femininity school. And I was growing into my body. I was 17. I was in a moment of discovery. As women, it’s such unfair objectification.”
“I look back at it and I feel like, ‘God, you’re so brave.’ I don’t know if I’d have that courage now. And I don’t know if that was kind of innocence or ignorance.”
During her time on the show, footage was captured of Buckley being told by a male choreographer: “We’ve got to get her to be much more ladylike, it’s a real challenge… Come on, get your womanly head on.” Meanwhile, a critique of her posture by judge Denise van Outen led to her being taught to provocatively walk in six-inch heels by Chicago dancers.
In response, the BBC pointed to its policies to ensure a duty of care for all who work with them, which it said had been improved over time. They added that complaints and concerns passed on to them are treated “with the utmost care and seriousness”.
Buckley also mentioned that she was asked to be Prenger’s understudy but turned it down.
In other news, Steven Spielberg made a surprise appearance at the London Film Festival premiere of Hamnet, praising the work of director Chloé Zhao. He serves as a producer on the film.
Mescal stars as William Shakespeare and Buckley as his wife Agnes in the story of the loss of their young son Hamnet, which served as the inspiration for the tragedy Hamlet.