Jessie Buckley Recalls ‘Brutal’ Time On Talent Show I’d Do Anything

Jessie Buckley is reflecting on what she’s described as her “bonkers” experience on the TV talent search I’d Do Anything.

Before the world knew her for films like Beast, Wild Rose, The Lost Daughter, Wicked Little Letters and her latest offering, Hamnet, the Irish actor first rose to prominence on reality TV.

Following the success of the singing competitions How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, a 17-year-old Jessie auditioned for I’d Do Anything, which searched for a new star to play Nancy in a West End production of Oliver!.

After making it through to the live shows, Jessie finished in second place behind eventual winner Jodie Prenger, and admitted in a new interview with British Vogue that her time on the show featured many lows as well as highs.

“I look back at it and I feel like, ‘God, you’re so brave’,” she says of her younger self. “I don’t know if I’d have that courage now. And I don’t know if that was kind of innocence or ignorance.”

Jessie went on to claim that she was “not well fully” and “depressed” during her time on I’d Do Anything.

“[I] just wasn’t well. There was a lot that was really messed up,” she continued, referring to “a lot of body shaming” that she was subjected to on the show, pointing out that at one point she was brought to a “femininity school”.

“And I was growing into my body. I was 17. I was in a moment of discovery,” she pointed out. “As women, it’s such unfair objectification.”

Jessie added: “I really hope that a 15, 17, whatever-age woman never has to be brutalised quite like what happened on that show. But I didn’t recognise it fully at the time. I just felt it, which was difficult.”

Following her second-place finish, Jessie was offered the opportunity to serve as champion Jodie Prenger’s understudy, telling British Vogue that she showed up to producer Cameron Mackintosh’s office in person to turn him down flat.

After I’d Do Anything, Jodie went on to appear in productions of Annie, Spamalot and One Man, Two Guvnors, while fellow finalist Samantha Barks played Eponine in the movie Les Misérables and originated the role of Elsa in the West End show Frozen.

Jessie, meanwhile, is currently one of the frontrunners to pick up the Best Actress prize at the upcoming Oscars.

As of 2022, she’s also an Olivier winner thanks to her leading performance in the current West End revival of Cabaret.

Read Jessie Buckley’s full interview in the new issue of British Vogue.