The New Yorker Radio Hour · WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Chloé Zhao on “Hamnet,” Which Is Nominated for Eight Academy Awards

March 15, 2026·22 min·2 clips

Academy Award-winning director Chloe Zhao reveals the surprising fear that drives all her filmmaking.

Chloe Zhao, the second woman to win an Oscar for Best Director, returns as a nominee for her film Hamnet, which has received eight Academy Award nominations. The film, based on Maggie O'Farrell's novel, tells the story of William Shakespeare and his wife Anne coping with their son's death in 16th century England. Zhao initially rejected the project, feeling no personal connection to Shakespeare or the subject matter. However, a chance meeting with Paul Mescal changed her mind when he passionately recommended the book and expressed interest in playing young Shakespeare. Zhao was drawn to O'Farrell's internal landscape descriptions and discovered the author's favorite filmmaker was Wong Kar-Wai, who had inspired Zhao's own career. The film was shot in Wales, representing a shift from Zhao's previous American West settings to the deeply feminine forest environment. Zhao explains that nature has always been central to her work because of her deep fear of death, and that being in nature provides embodied spirituality and safety. In her forties, she moved from the expansive plains to forests, which force introspection and confrontation with one's shadows. Zhao's approach to Shakespeare was unconventional, lacking the typical Western reverence for the playwright. She saw him simply as a man struggling to express his emotions, similar to many male artists who find safety in their art rather than real-life emotional expression. Paul Mescal faced significant pressure playing both Shakespeare and performing the Orpheus myth within the film. Zhao, who didn't speak English as a teenager studying Romeo and Juliet, relied on physical and emotional reactions rather than verbal comprehension when directing Shakespeare's speeches. She and her cinematographer Lukasz would judge takes by their bodily responses - crying, throat tightening, or stomach turning - embodying the experience of Agnes, who wouldn't fully understand Shakespeare's words either. Zhao recently received an official neurodivergence diagnosis, which provided empowering language for challenges she'd always faced. Her sensitivity and pattern recognition skills, which make her an exceptional director, come from processing much more information than others, requiring time to avoid shutdowns or meltdowns. Strong chemical scents like perfumes can trigger shutdowns, though natural scents don't affect her. She's now working on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival pilot and has launched Kodansha Studios with producing partner Nick Gonda to adapt manga properties. This venture aims to bridge Eastern and Western storytelling by allowing artists to understand each other's spiritual and emotional cores before developing screenplays. Zhao started as a fan fiction writer in China and believes adaptation can be beautiful when done thoughtfully. She redefines 'original' as meaning 'going back to the source' rather than creating something entirely new, challenging Hollywood's masculine-dominated obsession with novelty. Her approach to IP adaptation emphasizes returning to foundational stories rather than constantly pursuing the new, reflecting nature's cyclical patterns.

As heard by us

Chloe Zhao talks through Hamnet as a film about grief, art, and the emotions that find shelter in imagination.

Chloe Zhao's Hamnet brings The New Yorker Radio Hour into the intimate mechanics of grief and artistic self-protection. David Remnick sets up the film as a departure from Nomadland, then lets Zhao explain how Amblin's call reached her on a spotty drive through New Mexico and led…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a grave, literate conversation about adapting Shakespeare through grief.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The New Yorker Radio Hour