Paul Mescal to star as William Shakespeare in Chlóe Zhao's 'Hamnet'

(Credit: Far Out / Kevin Kunze)

Paul Mescal is set to star as a young incarnation of the famed playwright William Shakespeare in Chlóe Zhao’s forthcoming film, Hamnet (yes, that’s correct, it’s not Hamlet).

The movie is based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel of the same name which comes with the following synopsis: “On a summer’s day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?”

It continues: “Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London. Neither parent knows that one of the children will not survive the week.”

He will star opposite Jessie Buckley and he is relishing the opportunity to portray literature’s most famous name in a new light. “That book – it’s just devastating. I can’t wait. If I told a younger version of myself that this would be [shooting] this year, I wouldn’t believe it,” the Irish actor told British Vogue.

He conttinued: “I’ve obviously been in a film with Jessie before [Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter] but we’ve never shared the screen or a working process together. I think she’s one of our present-day greats.”

He was also enticed by the prospect of working with Zhao, whose debut film Nomadland swooped a slew of awards helping to launch her as a modern auteur. “Chloé is somebody I can’t wait to get in the weeds with,” he said, “and get into the heads of those characters.”

While the project is still some with off with production yet to start, Mescal has a busy time ahead. He is currently promoting the Oscar-nominated All of Us Strangers and Gladiator 2 is also firmly on the horizon amid other projects.