Jessie Buckley's brother Killian told The Hard Shoulder he couldn't believe it when his sister won.
Jessie Buckley’s brother Killian Buckley, has said he couldn’t quite put into words how happy he was for his sister Jessie Buckley’s Oscar win.
Buckley became the first Irish woman to be named Best Actress in a Leading Role during the Academy Awards for her role in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet.
President Catherine Connolly and An Taoiseach Micheál Martin both took to social media to congratulate her on her historic win.
Speaking to The Hard Shoulder’s Ciara Kelly, Killian Buckley, who works as a mountain guide in Finland said he didn’t sleep while the ceremony aired.
“I was up until the announcement was made just after four o'clock in the morning here. I watched the whole show and with a couple of my clients in a hotel room - it was absolutely incredible.
“I was definitely nervous throughout the show even though I felt it was going to happen.
The size of the moment and whether she would win or not grew throughout the proceedings and realising it was a historic moment was this really beautiful person who I’m lucky enough to call my sister.”
'It feels like some kind of crazy alchemy'
Our very own @HenryMcKean spoke with #Oscars winner Jessie Buckley, immediately after her win in the Best Actress in a Leading Role category, and asked her about the vital role motherhood played in her success. pic.twitter.com/bdxF3EAwIP
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) March 16, 2026
He told Newstalk the relief he felt once her win was announced was “absolutely fantastic.”
“It was a really beautiful moment”, he told Ciara Kelly.
“After she got off stage the family group chat had a lot of jumping and screaming and saying I love you. She was whisked away for some questions but the rest of the family stayed on the line.”
Growing up with Jessie Buckley
Asked if he’d ever expected his sister to win an Oscar, he lauded her acting talent and her ability to “make him cry more than most”.
“I remember being 15 and thinking ‘Jessie, you’re pretty amazing’. She’s just got that special quality about her. It’s amazing to see how she’s changed but how she’s just Jess at the end of the day.
“My parents always used to say ‘Do what you want, but do it well’ and I think Jess inspires all of us.”
He described her performance in Hamnet as “one of those performances we can all relate to in a way.”
Hamnet (2025) directed by Chloe Zhao. Photo by: Agata Grzybowska.“Everyone has a mother and dealt with the feeling of loss and witnessed the power of family coming together or having to build yourself back up after something so hard.
“The movie is also so heavily rooted in nature and I bawled my eyes out like many people at the end.”
Jessie Buckley's brother, Killian Buckley told The Hard Shoulder he was constantly amazed by his sister's performances and how she handled her notoriety.
“It was an amazing performance and I think she captured so many hearts with that performance but I think she's also captured lots of hearts with just how she's conducted herself through the whole awards process.
“I often think that I'll wake up one day and Jessie will realise that she's famous but she's time and time and again exactly who she is.”
Main Image: Jessie Buckley, winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Hamnet. Photo by Sthanlee B. Mirador.
