Chloé Zhao built her reputation by capturing Americana through authentic storytelling, casting true nomads and rodeo riders to craft films that often blurred the line between fiction and documentary. Her breakout film, The Rider, captured attention, and Nomadland earned her an Oscar, solidifying her position as a visionary director. With her next venture, Hamnet, Zhao shifts focus to a deeply personal adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel, which explores the grief of William Shakespeare (played by Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) after the loss of their son, and how this tragedy inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The film’s intimate portrayal has earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Director for Zhao, with Steven Spielberg praising her singular ability to bring the story to life. Bradley Cooper, who interviewed Zhao shortly after her Golden Globe win, echoed this admiration.
The In-Depth Conversation: Setting the Scene for Hamnet
On the morning of January 12, 2026, in Los Angeles, Bradley Cooper and Chloé Zhao began their dialogue with a familiar, relaxed tone before quickly diving into the profound themes of Hamnet. Cooper opened by marveling at the opening visual of Agnes asleep within a tree root above a cavernous hole, noting its deliberate symbolism and Zhao’s clear personal imprint on the film’s narrative.
Zhao confirmed the film’s deeply autobiographical nature, stating,
“With the little time we’ve spent together, you can probably tell it has more me in it than all my previous films.”
She revealed that initiating the script’s beginning was the most challenging part, as she viewed storylines as circles rather than straight lines, and struggled for months before finding the breakthrough through music.
How Music and Place Shaped the Film’s Opening
Zhao reached out to co-writer Maggie O’Farrell to find a piece of music that resonated with the story’s emotional core. O’Farrell shared the recurring song
“When I Am Laid in Earth”
by Henry Purcell, which includes the haunting refrain,
“Remember me, remember me, remember me.”
This opera, possibly inspired by an early Hamlet production, sparked the script’s opening for Zhao.
The imagery of the tree and the cavernous black hole beneath it was a result of Zhao’s experience in Kyiv, where footage of war-torn forests featuring landmine holes deeply affected her. Upon scouting a peaceful forest in Wales, she saw natural black holes that mirrored those wartime scars, symbolizing death as an inevitable force connecting all life while also allowing for empathy and love amid grief.
This hole has to be at the beginning of the film.
— Chloé Zhao, Director
Exploring Metaphysical Themes: Spirit, Matter, and Storytelling
Cooper noted Agnes’s transformative moment when she touches her son Hamlet’s hand and recognizes William Shakespeare’s true self, suggesting this scene symbolizes her belief in an afterlife and faith beyond earthly existence. Zhao responded with intense emotional resonance, connecting this to Jungian psychology.
She explained that Jung provided her with a framework to understand the intertwining of spirit and matter, where the “divine child,” or soul, emerges from their union. William represents spirit, Agnes symbolizes matter, or earth, and storytelling serves as the bridge between them. Agnes’s grief keeps her trapped in material reality, while William’s spirit risks floating away without her grounding presence. Their shared experience of loss and mortality fuels the deep soulfulness in Shakespeare’s work.
He puts the earth on his skin because it’s matter containing spirit.
— Chloé Zhao, Director
Distinct Cinematic Choices and Visual Language
Cooper praised Zhao’s visual storytelling, particularly her choice to film family scenes at breakfast and dinner with wide shots, allowing characters to move naturally in and out of the frame without tight pans. Zhao described the process of finding Agnes’s perspective alongside cinematographer Łukasz Żal, aiming to capture a world where much of life exists just beyond rational view and beyond the screen’s edge. The deliberate imperfections in framing invite the audience to engage with the unseen and evoke a lived-in reality.
Too perfect. We want the camera to sometimes just miss someone.
— Łukasz Żal, Cinematographer (quoted by Chloé Zhao)
Zhao credited editor Fonsi Affonso Gonçalves for shaping the film’s montage sequences, admitting her own difficulty navigating complex conversational coverage but a strong affinity for montage editing.
Powerful Performances: Casting and Character Depth
Bradley Cooper singled out Jessie Buckley’s commanding portrayal of Agnes, initially overshadowing other performances due to her intensity. On second viewing, he expressed deep appreciation for Paul Mescal’s depiction of William Shakespeare, highlighting Buckley’s rare ability to captivate audiences.
Zhao elaborated on the actors’ commitment, describing how both Buckley and Mescal ventured beyond their comfort zones to embody their roles. Buckley’s multifaceted artistry—poetry, drawing, gardening—infuses her storytelling, while a shared dreamwork session between them significantly influenced the script’s evolution over two and a half years.
Regarding Mescal, Zhao recounted meeting him after being hesitant to accept the project, impressed by his raw energy and hunger to reveal undiscovered depths, comparing her desire for an unknown element in casting to her previous work with Brady Jandreau in The Rider.
There’s something you haven’t shown the world, and I would like to create a vessel for you to show it.
— Chloé Zhao, Director
Zhao also highlighted Laura Dern and Will Arnett, noting the excitement of pushing talented actors into unexplored, fearless territory.
Discussing casting children for the twins, Zhao revealed a lengthy process that ultimately favored Jacobi Jupe, younger brother to actor Noah Jupe, who played Hamlet. She used Spielberg’s “E.T. test” on several young actors to assess their capacity for presence and emotional availability, a critical requirement for the demanding roles.
I’m going to take someone important from your life away.
— Spielberg’s E.T. Audition Test (referenced by Zhao)
Navigating Big Studio Support for a Personal Story
Zhao reflected on managing a significant studio production with deeply intimate subject matter. She emphasized that effective leadership in filmmaking relies not on dominance but on nurturing an interdependent ecosystem within the crew. This approach, she noted, contrasts with traditional industry models that favor hierarchy.
She credited collaborators like Spielberg, Sam Mendes, and Focus Features for providing a protective umbrella that enabled creativity and respect for the film’s specificity. Budget constraints, including limited establishing shots, paradoxically enhanced the film’s immersive sense of place, with Cooper noting the vivid portrayal of nature and environment despite these limitations.
Zhao expressed faith in the intelligence of audiences, believing they engage their imagination to fill in gaps when properly guided toward the film’s emotional landscape.
The Role of Creativity and Imagination in Filmmaking
Both Zhao and Cooper discussed the universally accessible nature of creativity, emphasizing the importance of providing artists and audiences with the freedom to explore emotive “playgrounds.” Cooper praised Spielberg’s creative stewardship during his own work on Maestro, recognizing him as a rare curator who fosters fearless artistic exploration.
Zhao acknowledged the sharpness of Spielberg’s insights during script development, noting his pivotal suggestion to include a moment between father and son absent from their initial draft.
It’s missing a moment between father and son.
— Steven Spielberg (quoted by Chloé Zhao)
Honoring Veteran Talent and On-Set Experiences
Zhao lauded Emily Watson’s performance as a “treat” witnessed early on set, echoing Cooper’s admiration for seasoned actors like Sam Elliott, recalling his intense experience acting alongside Elliott in A Star Is Born. They reflected on the enduring strength and depth actors from that generation bring to their roles, possibly shaped by hardships not commonly experienced today.
Looking Ahead: Zhao’s Artistic Vision Beyond Hamnet
The conversation shifted to Zhao’s future projects, revealing her interest in venturing into theater in order to engage more physically with performance, recognizing the paradoxes of cinema as a medium. She expressed a desire to learn from the immediacy of live performance and apply those lessons back to film.
I pushed as far as I could right now with my knowledge and ability because it did transmute. It does allow the audience, whether it’s through music, sound design, or the actor’s performance, to be in their body more.
— Chloé Zhao, Director
On Camera as a Physical Presence and Shared Growth
Zhao described using her own bodily responses as a guide to camera placement, emphasizing the camera as a physical entity rather than a detached observer. She expressed excitement about shared artistic growth with Cooper, likening their development to teenagers maturing together.
The dialogue ended with mutual respect and appreciation, underscoring the profound connection formed through their in-depth exchange on Hamnet’s themes, performances, and filmmaking choices.
