O’Farrell joked that upon hearing the cast, she had said to director and co-writer Chloé Zhao: “Did you actually do any auditions or did you just go on holiday to Ireland?”
According to O’Farrell, Zhao had always wanted Buckley to take on the role of Agnes, something she was “totally on board with”.
“She is a dream Agnes, she does an incredible job inhabiting that character,” she said.
O’Farrell said she had always wanted Mescal for the role of Shakespeare.
“I saw him years ago at the Gate Theatre playing Stephen Dedalus… even then he stood out a mile,” she said.
“There is an interesting thematic link between Stephen Dedalus and Hamlet, so I always kept saying Paul Mescal, Paul Mescal.”
