"What she brings to set every day" Steven Spielberg is all praise for Hamnet director Chloé Zhao

Stephen Spielberg has a few words of praise for Hamnet director Chloé Zhao, as the Jurassic Park helmer collaborates with her on her highly anticipated upcoming Shakespearean drama. Spielberg serves as a producer for the film, which is widely being regarded as one of the year's best releases.

Spielberg backing the project highlights the potential he saw in Zhao's work, and the director is all praise for her as he talks highly of her as an artist and her art. Speaking to the audience during the London Film Festival, the director said,

“We became friends and we’d have lunch together at Amblin, and I’m just amazed by her, you know. I really believe the earth has a heartbeat. It’s a 24-second seismic cycle, and all of us are connected to this heartbeat which happens right under our feet. But Chloé Zhao is connected to it in a profound way because it’s where her art comes from. It’s what she brings to set every day, it’s what she anoints and shares with her cast every day. And I really believe that when you see ‘Hamnet,’ you’ll be able to feel the seismic heartbeat of the earth because of Chloé Zhao.”

Hamnet follows the reimagined story of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, as they deal with the death of their son Hamnet. As their lives are corroded over the tragedy, it also gives birth to one of Shakespeare's most iconic plays, Hamlet. Paul Mescal is portraying the role of William Shakespeare, a performance that has already won over critics, while Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes Shakespeare.

More details about Hamnet

Hamnet first made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and quickly became one of the year's most talked-about films. Directed by Zhao, who has previously been nominated for an Oscar, the film is an adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's bestselling novel of the same name, which shows the Bard in a different light.

Apart from Paul Mescal as Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare, the film has rising star Jacobi Jupe playing their son, Hamnet, while Olivia Lynes appears as his twin sister, Judith, and Bodhi Rae Breathnach as their elder sibling, Susanna. Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn round out the supporting cast, adding emotional depth to Zhao’s intimate portrait of love and grief.

For audiences eager to experience it, the wait is nearly over, though staggered. Focus Features will release the film in select theaters across the US and Canada on November 27, just in time for Thanksgiving, before expanding nationwide on December 12 for the holiday season. UK audiences will have to hold out until January 9, 2026, when the film finally arrives in cinemas, offering a poignant start to the new year.

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Edited by Nibir Konwar