The new film Hamnet, based on Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning 2020 novel, imagines how William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in a haze of grief over the death of his son. In a sly bit of casting, director Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind Nomadland, chose brothers to play the doomed child and the actor portraying his on-stage avatar.
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Jacobi and Noah Jupe grew up in the UK, raised by a producer dad and actor mom. (They also have a sister.) In the movie, they both share scenes with Paul Mescal, as the Bard, and Jessie Buckley, as his earthy wife Agnes. The Shakespeares are presented as loving parents who view the world differently—William is dedicated to his craft; Agnes to the mystical qualities of the land. After Hamnet’s death, both fall into despair, but are unable to reach one another.
The younger Jacobi, 12, is Hamnet, a sensitive boy who dreams of a future working with his father in the theater. Noah, his 20-year-old brother, best known for his work in the Quiet Place movies, is the performer tasked with delivering the most famous monologue in the history of monologues. The resemblance between child and on-stage avatar is very much intentional. Agnes, watching the play at the Globe, is at first frustrated her husband is using their tragedy as fodder for fiction, but soon comes to recognize how her husband funneled his sorrow into his art. In Noah’s face, she recognizes her loss.
This is deeply sad material, and when the Jupes hop on a call with TIME they are serious about their work, but lighthearted with each other, quick with sibling ribbing but proud of each other’s accomplishments.
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Jacobi, did you always want to follow in your brother’s footsteps?
Jacobi: I first saw my brother doing it when I was 2 or 3. He was working quite a lot. When I was little, I didn’t really understand what he was doing. Then I went on set and it made me really excited. When I was around 6, I asked my mum, “How do I be an actor?” I wanted to do what my brother did. I managed to get on a tape for Peter Pan [& Wendy]. That was my first job.
Who got involved with Hamnet first?
Jacobi: I did. I did multiple [auditions] with a few different girls who were going to play [my twin sister] Judith. Then I did some solo auditions, and my first was with Chloé. We did improv. It was very emotional. I had to pretend that my dad was being taken away, and I had to try and convince Chloé to let him stay.
Noah, how were you cast?
Noah: Now when I think about it, it feels so right that we’re both part of this film. But at the time it was just [Jacobi]. I was super excited, cheering him on. So proud of him.
Jacobi: He was also a bit jealous.
Noah: A bit jealous. I loved Chloé Zhao. Me and Chloé had met a year previous, and I just loved her to bits. Once he’d started shooting, he was telling me all these stories about how intimate and emotional and how kind everyone was. Two months into their shoot, I was shooting something in Greece, and I got a call from my mom and Chloé, and they’re very giddy and smiling. They say to me, “How would you feel about playing Hamlet?” It was obviously something that you just cannot turn down.
Jacobi, how did you prepare for this is a very intense role?
Jacobi: Jessie and Paul both were so supportive of me. It’s a very tough thing to do, and especially dying, that’s so awful. I’ve done quite a few roles now where I died and my mum told me that I was going to be dying again. I was a bit annoyed at first, because I actually wanted to get through a role where I don’t die. But it was definitely worth it. The experience was incredible.
Noah: That was what I was jealous about, because our mom knows that my whole life, all I’ve wanted to do is die in a film and I’ve never got to do it. And Jacobi just kept dying in everything, but he hated it. And I was like, “Why can’t we just switch around? I’d love to die. It sounds like too much fun.”
Noah, when did you get to set?
Noah: Jacobi and I were never meant to cross paths. But the moment was too good to not have both Jupe brothers on set. So Chloé wrote a scene where Jacobi comes out on stage at the end of the movie. I think she wanted to surprise Jessie, because the whole time, me, Jessie, and Paul were all doing these performances and on all of our minds was Jacobi. I’m thinking about trying to connect myself to him so that it’s like we’re, in a weird way, playing one character. Chloé wanted Jacobi to walk out through the void onto the stage and get Jessie’s reaction to that, which was awesome.
What was it like playing a version of the same character?
Jacobi: It was quite funny, because me and Noah don’t really look like each other, so they had to find a way to dye Noah’s hair blonde.
Noah: I got to set, and Chloé walked into the trailer and she was just like, “Oh my God, you look nothing like Jacobi.” I was like, “I know.” She’s like, “No one’s going to believe that you’re related.” But we worked it out.
Noah, did you get to see any of Jacobi’s scenes before you filmed?
Noah: I asked to see his death, and Chloé showed me a couple of takes, which was harrowing. I wanted to nod to that a little in Hamlet’s death and when he’s poisoned, that guttural scream that Jacobi was doing that was heartbreaking. But she didn’t want to show me much. I think she was also more excited about me seeing it in its final form, which I’m glad I waited for, because it destroyed me.
Were there moments of levity on set?
Jacobi: The biggest moments were the dance takes. Me and Olivia [Lynes, who plays Judith] were [working on the scene in which] I found out she was ill. And Chloé just suddenly goes, “On Friday, we’re going to do a dance take.” Me and Olivia both looked at each other and went, “What’s a dance take?”
Noah: The process of most dance takes is you start the scene as you normally would, then the song comes on and you dance your way out of it.
Jacobi: We were supposed to do the dance take on a Friday, but it was Wednesday, and I died. I went to Chloé, “Chloé, I just died. Please, can we do a dance take?” And Chloé was like, “OK, fine.” And I went, “Can we do it to ‘Stayin’ Alive’?”
Do you ever share acting tips?
Noah: More than anything, we’ve just shared love and support for one another. We have a lot better mentors than each other to teach us about acting. Jacobi’s working with the most amazing people. I’ve had the chance to work with some really cool people. But it’s just a sense of being there for one another and having a sense of normalcy. When we’re together, it’s not about the films. It’s not about acting as an art form. It’s just about being brothers.
How do you decompress?
Jacobi: Probably watching a movie because we love movies so much. When I was younger, we did stunt fighting. Lightsabers, swords, anything we could find. Even just a couple of sticks. [We] would choreograph fights and film them on the trampoline, and just spend hours doing these fights.
Noah: It was also interesting because we both have a stunt fight in this film.
What was your reaction to seeing the final film?
Jacobi: I was crying the entire way through. It was shocking to see it all come together on screen. I was in awe of it.
Noah: It almost felt emotional in reverse. I’d been part of the end, so I knew that inside out. I was most emotional seeing how beautiful it was when it started. Above all is Jacobi. My expectations were high. He’s a very talented kid. But his performance was at another level.
Jacobi: The bit that I cry most at is when my brother dies. It’s different when you watch yourself die, because I knew I wasn’t dead, but my brother’s such an incredible actor that I just believed it.
Noah: It’s the first time I’ve seen someone in a performance that I know so intimately that isn’t myself. Normally, you’re watching yourself, you have criticisms for yourself. You feel a bit dissociated. But with my brother, I could just be completely invested and not have self-consciousness about how the performance was.
The post Jacobi Jupe Was Already Shooting Hamnet When He Got an Unexpected Co-Star: His Older Brother Noah appeared first on TIME.
