Jessie Buckley details terrifying health scare she nearly didn’t ‘survive’ – and reveals eating disorder battle

Hamnet star Jessie Buckley spoke candidly about her health battles in her younger years as she struggled to make it as an actress in London, having moved to the city from her hometown of Killarney in Ireland. 

The 36-year-old Irish actress revealed that her appendix “almost burst” while on stage during an early performance in her career and that she refused to leave the theatre until she had finished her role. 

Rushed to the hospital, Jessie reflected on how acting saved her life at that time, admitting it was “essential” for her wellbeing and “like water” to her as she grappled with a difficult recovery. 

Speaking candidly, the Bride star also revealed how she struggled to overcome an eating disorder in her teenage years, but she didn’t “regret” it as it taught her how to recognise vulnerability in others. 

She said: “I had an eating disorder, and it took time, and it took a lot of help, and also it was depression…

“I didn’t know how to be alive the way I wanted to be, and it was difficult, but I do not for a second regret it, and I think I’ve been able to transform it and recognise our vulnerabilities as humans in the world.”

Jessie continued telling Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: “You know, you can’t walk through life not being affected, but you can transform that into something that allows you to be more human and alive in the way that you want to be.

“And I’m very grateful for everybody who helped me along the way with that, and for the people who held space for that… I’ve been in therapy since I was 17, I still go every week.” 

The new mother-of-one has received a string of awards for her portrayal of William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes Hathaway in the film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel. 

She revealed what it was like for her leaving Kerry in pursuit of bigger, London-based dreams: “When I moved to London, I still wasn’t out of the woods.

“I think there were moments where I was like, ‘If I don’t get better here, this music, this being part of theatre – I’m not going to be able to do this any more, and I probably won’t survive’.” 

“And that was the thing that turned it in my head, I was like, ‘I don’t want to sacrifice that, this is bigger than that’, and won.” 

She’d Do Anything 

The actress initially found fame on the Andrew Lloyd-Webber BBC talent competition show, I’d Do Anything, where women competed to become the next Nancy in the West End production of Oliver!.

She explained how being a part of the show heightened her body image issues and forced her to put on a “brave face”. 

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She told the radio host: “I think that was a young woman who’s trying to discover her body and herself, like we all do. And I wish that hadn’t happened.

“I think I was putting a brave face on, because really what I wanted to do was sing and I wanted to act, and I wanted to be part of this industry, and all of a sudden you had to be a certain kind of person. And I just wasn’t, I never will be. That’s just not me.”