Hamnet

Dir: Chloé Zhao (2025)

"The Beauty of the World"
Starring in miniature Jessie Buckley.

I've always been quite taken with those old-fashioned multi-layered-but-flat theatre sets - the kind that are 2D & 3D at the same time.


When I started making a Glass Cathedral of HAMNET for my Cinerama collection, I wondered how best to recreate the magical forest world of the hero, Agnes, in her element.

The movie scene already held all the essential elements of a Glass Cathedral - to be tiny in the immensity of things, and also to be the hero of your own story. But how to get the miniature recreation to really come alive?



I remembered I had some dry pieces of lichen-covered bark that I'd picked up on Hampstead Heath in the autumn. Of course, in a Glass Cathedral, a small piece of bark transforms into a mighty tree trunk! And that is how I built up this world for tiny Agnes.


I'm thrilled with the result - "The Beauty of The World" - and am inspired to make more fantastical layered scenes using natural elements.

It also feels quite apt to be heading in a bold new direction inspired by Hamnet, given the almost unbelievable story of how Chloé Zhao came up with the final scene of the movie. It was 4 days before the end of filming and Zhao had not decided how to end the film. Jessie Buckley sent her a piece of music, and as Zhao was driving along listening to it, she stretched her hand out of the window to catch the rain.The ending came to her. SO BRAVE.