‘Midlife crisis is not a bad thing’: Hamnet director Chloé Zhao reframes ageing and urges women to stop carrying life’s burdens alone

Hamnet is the film everyone is talking about, with interest rising after it was awarded two Golden Globes at the awards on January 12. All eyes are now turning to how it will perform at the Oscars.

Director Chloé Zhao recently appeared on Woman's Hour - not only did she discuss the movie, but also spoke openly about her experience of what she calls a "midlife crisis".

Reframing the experience as something positive, 43-year-old Chloé shares the way Jessie Buckley (Agnes Shakespeare in the film), helped her process her feelings.

Host Anita Rani asked Chloé if she and Jessie had bonded over a breakup in the first instance. "Not a breakup, that wasn't exactly correct," the director corrects her.

"It's more like a series of heartbreak and loss, losing loved ones and a sense of self," she explains.

Chloé continues, "When you're in midlife, everything that you've built that first 40 years starts to crumble. Jessie caught me at a time when a couple of things were on top of each other within a day."

Elaborating on this, she adds, "It was just that feeling where you feel like the ground isn't there, and there's nothing to hold you."

Explaining Jessie's involvement, the director says, "She just happened to text me and say, 'Hey, are you OK?'"

The text was sent at 1am, at a time when Chloé "definitely wasn't" OK. This moment brought about a choice that women of a similar age might recognise.

Chloé knew she wasn't OK, and had acknowledged this to herself. However, most will reply to the question of whether they're alright by insisting they are.

She stopped to think and decided to be truthful. "When she sent me that text message, I had a choice in that moment," Chloé explains, adding, "I can say, 'Yes, I'm fine.'

"I am a woman that has always said, 'I'm fine,' but not that day" she explains. "And that's why I think midlife crisis, or however you want to call it, is not a bad thing," she says.

Chloé explains that one moment made her realise she couldn't do "this," - the feelings she had, and the burdens she felt, alone.

This was "the first time" she'd been honest about her feelings to someone she didn't know well at the time, "who happened to be available" in a moment where she needed them.

The director admitted she wasn't OK, and Jessie's lovely response was to say, "Come over right away," in a moment of women supporting women, and a pivotal time for Chloé to realise she didn't have to be alone with her challenges.