Jessie Buckley is a star on the rise.
And not just because the BAFTAs told us so. (She was nominated for the coveted BAFTA Rising Star award this year and only narrowly missed out to 2018 ELLE Lister Letitia Wright.)
It’s clear she can act (the nomination was for her epic, gut-wrenching performance in 2017 Beast alongside Johnny Flynn), but what you might not know is that she has the voice of an angel.
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For her lead role in the new country musical Wild Rose (hitting cinemas in April) she sings an entire album of country bangers (half of which she co-wrote) with vocals so hauntingly beautiful it will send shivers down your spine or (highly likely) tears down your cheeks.
Lucky for us, she’s premiering her new video for first single, ‘Country Girl’, right now exclusively on ELLE UK, a song which soundtracks a key moment in the film, performed by Jessie with the utmost passion and sincerity.
Starring alongside Julie Walters and Sophie Okonedo, Ireland-born Jessie plays Rose-Lynn Harlan, a single mother of two, fresh out of prison, who dreams of leaving Glasgow for Nashville to make it as a country singer.
Directed by BAFTA nominee Tom Harper (The Scouting Book For Boys), produced by BAFTA nominee Faye Ward (Stan & Ollie) and written by BAFTA award-winning writer Nicole Taylor (Three Girls, The C Word), Wild Rose is an uplifting (yet slightly traumatic) story about family, dreams and reality.
We’re calling it now: this film is going to have Jessie Buckley clean up during next awards season.
Jessie’s reputation has been on a steady incline since she was discovered by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber on a TV talent show almost a decade ago (I’d Do Anything – a bid to become Nancy in the West End), but you may recognise her most for her breakout role as Princess Marya in BBC adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and starring opposite Tom Hardy in historic drama series Taboo.
In the past 12 months, she has won Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards and named a BAFTA rising star for her lead in Beast, received a standing ovation when Wild Rose premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been recognised in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of 'disrupters' and 'trailblazers' (alongside the likes of Jorja Smith and Killing Eve’s Jodi Comer) – a sure sign that this year is going to catapult her to ultimate stardom.
(Look out for her co-starring roles alongside Renee Zellweger in Judy garland biopic Judy and The Voyage Of Doctor Dolittle alongside Robert Downey Jr.)
Jessie’s gift will transport you to that wonderfully beer soaked Glaswegian pub, wherever you may be, so press play to see her bare her soul wearing the white cowboy boots of our dreams.
‘Country Girl’ single out now, ‘Wild Rose’ album out 12 April.
