Alternate Best Supporting Actor 2025: Jacobi Jupe in Hamnet

Jacobi Jupe did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Hamnet Shakespeare in Hamnet.

Jacobi Jupe plays the only son of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and Agnes (Jessie Buckley), who is one of two twins along with his sister Judith. Jupe’s performance is a fairly brief one in the scheme of the film given so much is dealing with the death of his character. So for a kid he needs to make an impact pretty quickly while also hitting a very specific blend of needs which is pretty challenging as child performers go. As the first aspect is just being a believable child which Jupe isn’t only a believable child he’s also an incredibly endearing one. There’s just a spark in his performance where you get such a sweet sincerity about his character as we see him doing kid things like switching spots with his sister to try to trick their dad and just playing around with his parents. Jupe has a real charm that feels realistic to just a kid where there’s that sense of life about him. But being just a cute kid would be one accomplishment, an accomplishment which Jupe succeeds wholeheartedly, but there is more asked of him than that.

As we have a pivotal scene where his father is going back to London to continue working, and Jupe’s emotional nuance in his strained voice at recognizing his father is leaving is heartbreaking already but so much more. Jupe’s performance manages to convey in these emotional scenes, also one with his mother where she says she has a vision of him essentially on stage, a powerful combination between a degree of emotional maturity yet still filtered through wholly a child. Such as when his father asks if “he will be brave?” Jupe is equally convincing in his first affirmation, where we see him working through the sadness of not being able to see his father for a while combined though with the determination to be protector for the rest of the family, as he is when his father keeps asking in essentially leading to a father/son cuddle, where Jupe far more childish reaction of excitement of getting his father’s affection. Jupe is convincing in both moments but more importantly they do not feel disparate rather creating an honest complexity in his depiction of Hamnet. Jupe makes it hard not to love the sweetness of the kid but with that wish to also be strong.

So then when his sister comes down with a severe illness Jupe’s performance is rather astonishing. As again we get that uniquely potent combination of mature and the child. Portraying powerfully such genuine concern for his sister combined though with the inner strength in that little face of his that carries such a remarkable impact to it. So then when he has a scene where he literally asks to give his life for Judith, it is such a devastating moment because what Jupe manages to do is be a cute kid asking essentially for superpowers in the moment to save the day, while also conveying the gravity of the choice in the direct sincerity of his delivery as he offers himself for sacrifice to save his sister. An element that becomes all too true when Judith recovers but Hamnet comes down with the same fever. Jupe’s performance is frankly hard to watch in these scenes because he’s so convincing in delivering the harrowing visceral intensity of every bit of the sickness as he becomes deathly ill. Combining this with the sort of “out of body” scenes of him calling for his mother while he’s alone on a stage, Jupe’s work carries with it such emotional devastation. And that is technically almost the end of his performance except for a single silent moment at the end of the film, which is well performed in that silence, though more so a direction moment. What Jupe accomplishes in his screentime is such a tremendous impact and is what haunts the film. He isn’t just some random child and doesn’t accept essentially the cheat of the loss of a child, which is heartbreaking even without detail. Jupe creates detail, texture and emotional connection beyond just the idea. Making Hamnet such a winning presence, so when he is lost it is all the more painful, and within it finding this wonderful combination between the conviction of an adult and the levity of a child. He makes Hamnet far more than a name and gives him a remarkable life that makes you truly feel the depth of the tragedy of having it stolen so quickly and so mercilessly.