Jessie Buckley delivered a heartfelt tribute to her Hamnet co-star Emily Watson while accepting the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 2026 SAG-AFTRA Actor Awards.Buckley, 36, was announced as the winner during the Sunday, March 1 ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Taking the stage to warm applause, the Irish actress expressed deep gratitude to Watson, who accompanied her to the event.“I would like to say a special thank you to my incredible friend and date tonight, Emily Watson. Breaking the Waves made me whisper to myself, ‘That’s what I want to do,’ and to share those scenes with you in Hamnet, I will cherish that for the rest of my life,” she said in her speech. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Just Jared (@justjared) The actress continued “Your wild imagination, your brave, untethered womanhood, your ferocious gentleness is a guiding light to me. And the best advice you always give to me is to go back to the well of just being human. Ground zero, babe. You are the realest of the real.”Beyond her tribute, Buckley said she feels proud to be part of the SAG-AFTRA community and hopes she can continue to contribute meaningful work to the craft.The category featured strong competition, including nominees Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue, Chase Infiniti for One Battle After Another, and Emma Stone for Bugonia.Jessie Buckley previously won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for her performance in Hamnet earlier this year.