Jessie Buckley has claimed that studio executives didn’t want her to play the titular character in the upcoming movie The Bride!

In Maggie Gyllenhaal’s upcoming monster movie musical, inspired by 1935’s Bride of Frankenstein, Christian Bale plays Frankenstein’s monster, who asks a doctor to create a companion for him. They give life to a murdered woman, played by Buckley, sparking romance, police interest and radical social change.

During a cover interview with British Vogue magazine, Buckley claimed that Gyllenhaal had to fight for her casting because studio executives thought she was too much of a risk because she’d never led a blockbuster before.

“Being completely honest, nobody wanted me to do that film,” Buckley said. “I mean, the studio. I’ve never done a Marvel, I’m not on Instagram, I’m probably the least bankable (choice). Like the security or the riskiness was… It was difficult for them. And Maggie was like, ‘Sorry, I’m not doing it without her.'”

Gyllenhaal, who first worked with Buckley on her 2021 directorial debut The Lost Daughter, explained to the publication that she fought so hard for the Irish actress because she didn’t know who else was capable of playing the character.

“Who else could have done it? Jessie’s able to hold the entire spectrum of human experience inside of her,” she stated, noting that the role demands the same range as Emma Stone in La La Land, with added dark humour and Gothic horror.

While studio executives were hesitant about Buckley at first, they may be thrilled by the good timing now, as she is currently the frontrunner for the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Hamnet, and The Bride! will be released two weeks before the ceremony.

Addressing the awards season buzz, the Women Talking star admitted she felt “a little bit like a rabbit in headlights” but has been so busy promoting Hamnet and raising her first child that she’s “totally oblivious” to the noise.

The Bride! will be released in cinemas on 6 March.

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