There’s a version of Jessie Buckley that the world is only just catching up to.
The awards. The headlines. The Oscar win.
But if you think that’s the full picture, it isn’t even close.
On March 15, Buckley became the first Irish woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, taking home the prize for her performance as Agnes in Hamnet. It was a landmark moment, not just for her, but for Irish cinema more broadly.
And yet, even in the immediate aftermath, Buckley didn’t exactly lean into the weight of it.
When asked if she had a message for friends and family back in County Kerry who had stayed up to watch the ceremony, her response was characteristically direct: "Don’t go to bed - keep partying! That's what I'm going to do."
That energy, slightly chaotic, completely unfiltered, is part of what makes her so compelling.
But it’s only one side of it.
Because long before the Oscar, Buckley had already established something else entirely: range. Not just as an actor, but as a performer in the broadest sense of the word.
Her collaboration with Bernard Butler on For All Our Days That Tear the Heart made that clear. So did her performance in Wild Rose, the 2018 film where she plays aspiring country singer Rose-Lynn Harlan.
And within that film, there’s one moment that tends to stick.
Buckley performing Primal Scream’s Country Girl.
It’s not framed as a polished, pristine showcase. It’s raw. Immediate. There’s a looseness to it that feels like it could tip off balance at any moment, but never does. Instead, it builds into something that feels lived-in rather than performed.
That performance didn’t go unnoticed at the time, and it hasn’t faded since.
Following Buckley’s Oscar win, Primal Scream themselves acknowledged it in a message that cuts straight to the point.
"Huge congratulations to Jessie Buckley on winning an Oscar for Hamnet," they wrote. "Some of you might remember her unforgettable performance of Country Girl in Wild Rose. What a voice. What a moment."
It’s difficult to argue with that assessment.
Because what Buckley does in that scene, and in much of her work, is blur the line between disciplines. Acting, singing, performance. It all feeds into the same thing: presence.
And right now, that presence is expanding.
Later this year, Buckley will appear on 20th Century Paddy: The Songs of Shane MacGowan, a tribute album celebrating the late Pogues frontman. She’ll be duetting with Hozier, adding her voice to a lineup that includes Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Primal Scream, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Kate Moss, Johnny Depp with Imelda May, The Libertines, The Murder Capital, Dropkick Murphys, Glen Hansard and members of The Pogues themselves.
It’s an eclectic mix, but Buckley fits into it naturally.
Because if the Oscar has confirmed anything, it’s that she belongs at the highest level.
And if the Country Girl performance reminds you of anything, it’s this:
She’s been operating at that level for a while now.
