Chloé Zhao‘s directing style proved central to the creative process behind the film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, Hamnet, as revealed by the cast and crew at the Variety Screening Series panel. Focused on Agnes, portrayed by Jessie Buckley, wife to a young William Shakespeare played by Paul Mescal, the film captures the challenges of motherhood in Stratford-upon-Avon and the heartbreak of losing their son, Hamnet, an event that inspired Shakespeare’s enduring masterpiece, Hamlet.
The panel discussion highlighted the unique collaboration among team members, with each recounting the influence of Chloé Zhao’s approach on the production’s atmosphere and decision-making from the onset. The discussion brought together key contributors: casting director Nina Gold; Malgosia Turzanska, the costume designer; cinematographer Łukasz Żal; and set decorator Alice Felton. Each detailed how Zhao’s leadership shaped both their creative choices and the emotional tone of the film.
An Ego-Free Approach to Leadership
Nina Gold, recognized for her casting work, credited Zhao with fostering an inclusive working environment.
“She’s so devoid of ego or any sense that she’s the boss and she’s in charge,”
Nina Gold, Casting Director
She continued, emphasizing Zhao’s masterful yet humble guidance.
“While she obviously has a kind of genius master plan, she’s so collaborative and inclusive — you just talk and really, really work on it together,”
Nina Gold, Casting Director
Łukasz Żal highlighted the director’s instinct-driven filmmaking.
“She was sometimes coming for a short moment and just making very, very good and very quick decisions,”
Łukasz Żal, Cinematographer
“She just really just makes decisions with her body, with her heart less than with her mind,”
Łukasz Żal, Cinematographer
Attention to Authenticity in Casting and Costuming
During the discussion, Gold explained her rigorous approach to casting, particularly in selecting Jacobi Jupe, age ten, for the title role. After multiple auditions, Jupe’s emotionally open performance, especially in critical scenes, left a deep impression on the team.
“Seeing this incredible kind of access to his emotions in such an unfettered way and a willingness to just leap in there and keep doing it was kind of amazing,”
Nina Gold, Casting Director
Malgosia Turzanska described a serendipitous moment in her research when a London rental house, Cosprop, uncovered a box of Victorian ball costumes untouched for a century, including a rare Elizabethan doublet.
“I lost it and cried, and it was just magnificent,”
Malgosia Turzanska, Costume Designer
“There’s so few garments that are not kind of royal and noble that have been preserved. And this was a simple garment, which was just so beautiful to be able to see,”
Malgosia Turzanska, Costume Designer
The authenticity of this discovery inspired her designs for William Shakespeare’s wardrobe throughout the production.
Costume and Color Narrate Emotional Journeys
Turzanska traced protagonist Agnes’ evolution through carefully chosen colors, with red symbolizing vitality and resilience.
“She is such a vibrant, undeniably living creature,”
Malgosia Turzanska, Costume Designer
“There was always the conversation about this pumping blood and life,”
Malgosia Turzanska, Costume Designer
Turzanska explained that color transitions echo Agnes’ transformation: from vibrant reds during motherhood to subdued hues following Hamnet’s death, culminating in hues that regain vibrancy by the story’s conclusion.
Intricate Set Details Root the Narrative in History
Set decorator Alice Felton recounted designing the glove workshop essential to Shakespeare’s father’s profession, intentionally making the space feel stifling and charged with tension.
“It’s somewhere that he gets hurt and threatened. Will doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps, but he’s forced to be there. So there’s objects in it that are quite sharp and threatening as well as just beautiful objects,”
Alice Felton, Set Decorator
Felton noted the collaborative nature of the set build.
“We had a whole team of leather workers and we, you could go in there and you could, you could choose your gloves,”
Alice Felton, Set Decorator
Drawing from historical research at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the team recreated period gloves that reflected Shakespeare’s challenging upbringing.
“We found beautiful old gloves from the period and had them remade, and we made them at different stages,”
Alice Felton, Set Decorator
Visual Framing and Emotional Architecture
Cinematographer Łukasz Żal underscored collaboration with Felton in capturing Will’s sense of entrapment before meeting Agnes, using composition and space to underline his confinement.
“We wanted to build a contrast between them,”
Łukasz Żal, Cinematographer
“He’s somehow trapped with his thoughts in what he has in his head … The ceiling is pressing him, there are divisions in this house, everything very structured and compositions are somehow closed,”
Łukasz Żal, Cinematographer
Felton also discussed the gradual changes in the children’s living quarters, describing handmade beds and how the room transforms as the plot unfolds.
“Then obviously two became one, and then when they cleared out and the space was empty,”
Alice Felton, Set Decorator
The shift in the house’s palette, characterized by cooler shades like blues, greys, and creams, mirrors the characters’ emotional state, especially as vibrant colors drain from Will and Agnes’ room following Hamnet’s passing.
Final Scene Offers a Layered Tribute
The film concludes with the first performance of Hamlet at the Globe Theatre, for which Nina Gold cast over 350 extras, selecting faces with period authenticity. Malgosia Turzanska’s team outfitted every extra, pulling together an impressive display of Elizabethan fashions.
Eagle-eyed viewers will notice Chloé Zhao’s own cameo in the finale, as she appears at the center balcony of the Globe, her hand reaching out to the crowd—a subtle nod from the director herself.
Shared Ownership and the Power of Collaboration
Of her experience working under Zhao’s guidance, Malgosia Turzanska described a profound sense of unity within the team.
“I feel ownership of the movie, of the whole movie more than I have ever felt because of the way she led us,”
Malgosia Turzanska, Costume Designer
The energy and emotional intensity Chloé Zhao brought to Hamnet result not only from her directing style but also the collaborative process fostered among cast and crew, spanning research, design, and performance. Anchored by clarity of vision and respect for her team’s input, Zhao’s directorial approach leaves a memorable mark on both the film and its creators, reinforcing her reputation for transformative leadership in cinema.
Learned during my Hamnet Q&A last night that Chloe Zhao appears in the Globe scene. Wild!!! pic.twitter.com/S5HWevP5LW
— Jazz Tangcay (@jazzt) January 9, 2026
