Andrew Lloyd Webber congratulates Jessie Buckley on Oscar win

Andrew Lloyd Webber has publicly congratulated Jessie Buckley on her Oscar win for Best Actress, 20 years after she was the runner-up on his 2008 reality competition, I'd Do Anything.

Buckley recently won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role as Agnes in Hamnet. Her win comes almost 20 years after her TV debut on Lloyd Webber's show, competing for the chance to play Nancy in a West End revival of Oliver. Jodie Prenger ultimately won the role, with Buckley coming in second place.

The actress's recent success follows comments she made to Vogue about her experience on the show. She claimed that at 17, she "wasn't well" and struggled with depression in the environment of that show, expressing a hope that no young woman "has to be brutalised quite like what happened on that show." She said she felt the difficulty at the time but only fully recognized the "bonkers" nature of the experience in hindsight.

Lloyd Webber recently shared on Instagram his congratulations for Buckley.

“I’ve known Jessie for years,” Lloyd Weber said. “Ever since she was on the television programme I recorded, I’d Do Anything, and last night I was so completely overwhelmed by the whole thing that I found on YouTube the little clip of her doing ‘The Man that Got Away’ all those years ago. I remember having a big row with the BBC about saying I really wanted her to sing that song. And I just remember that she took the roof off the building, and I think that was the moment I knew that this was a special girl and she was gonna be a huge star.”

Lloyd Webber concluded his tribute by directly addressing the actress: "If by any chance beautiful, lovely Jessie ever gets to see this... well done, darling."

 

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