Fans Are Just Discovering That Jessie Buckley Got Her Start On A Reality TV Show—And We're Obsessed

Fans were shooketh to learn that before Jessie Buckley became an Oscar-winning actor, she was competing on a reality TV show—and the footage had people completely hooked.

At just 18, Buckley impressed judges while rehearsing the iconic “Maybe This Time” from Cabaret. The performance featured Liza Minnelli, and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber immediately clocked what was coming.

Webber praised the young performer’s instincts early on:

“She's absolutely at her best… her comfort zone is that sort of material.”

You can watch the clip from the 2008 BBC talent competition I’d Do Anything here:

The show set out to find its next Nancy for a West End revival of Oliver!, and Buckley came painfully close, finishing as runner-up to Jodie Prenger. Years later, she didn’t sugarcoat it, calling the experience “brutalised” and “messed up,” while also describing it as a time when she was “in a moment of discovery.” She didn’t win—but the trajectory was already there.

You can watch her rendition of “The Man That Got Away” below:

- YouTubeBBC ONE

And as it turned out, Buckley’s acting abilities matched her vocal strength in the years that followed. Her theatre credits included The Winter’s Tale and, fittingly, Cabaret, where she took on the role of Sally Bowles at London’s Playhouse Theatre from 2021 to 2022.

Interestingly, Buckley isn't the only Oscar nominee this year with a reality-show background. Emma Stone is nominated for Best Actress for Bugonia, and she got her start on In Search of the Partridge Family, in which she was cast as Laurie Partridge in the unaired reboot pilot.

Buckley also showcased her singing in the 2018 musical drama Wild Rose. The performance earned her a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the film’s success later inspired a stage adaptation in England.

A résumé like Buckley’s didn’t exactly happen overnight. She steadily built a film career with standout roles in I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020), Men (2022), Women Talking (2022), Wicked Little Letters (2023), The Lost Daughter (2021), and The Bride—a lineup that made it clear she wasn’t interested in playing it safe.

The internet wasted no time reacting once the clip resurfaced:

While the internet was just catching up, Buckley had already made her way to the Oscars stage—where she took home Best Actress.

During her acceptance speech, Buckley reflected on inhabiting Agnes in Hamnet:

“Chloe and Maggie—to get to know this incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mother's love is the greatest collision of my life...”

The role drew from Agnes Hathaway, the wife of William Shakespeare, whom Buckley portrayed as she unraveled after the death of her young son, a loss that ultimately shaped the story behind Hamlet. That emotional weight carried into the next part of her speech as she widened the lens beyond the film.

She dedicated her Oscar to mothers:

“It's Mother's Day in the U.K. today. So I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart. We all come from a lineage of women who continued to create against all odds. Thank you for recognizing me in this role; I can't even believe it.”

And just before stepping offstage, she ended on a quiet, personal note.

Jessie Buckley closed her speech in Irish:

“Go raibh maith agaibh, slán.”

Which translates to “Thank you very much, goodbye.”

You can watch her Oscar-winning speech below:

- YouTubeOscars

For viewers just now discovering her through a years-old reality TV clip, the moment hit differently. The same teenager who once stood in front of judges on a competition show had gone on to command one of the biggest stages in the industry—proving that the talent was always there, even if the world took a little longer to catch up.