Oscar winner Jessie Buckley to be paid just £140 a day as she takes on new West End role after commanding fees of up to £4.5 million per movie

She has an Academy Award under her belt and the ability to command up to £4.5m a film, but for her next role Jessie Buckley will receive a much more humble pay check.The Hamnet actress, 36, who won the Best Actress Oscar for the film, will star in a new play Afterbirth at the Royal Court Theatre on London's West End.Jessie will be paid the same 'company rate' as everyone else based on West End union agreements, David Byrne, the Royal Court's artistic director, confirmed.Jessie will appear in eight performances of Afterbirth a week during the limited run and she will be paid £971, according to The Times.The pay packet Jessie will receive from working in the play only highlights the allure of the Royal Court for big name actors.Since David's appointment in 2024 stars including John Lithgow, Tilda Swinton and Gary Oldman have received the same amount of money.David said the theatre, which only has 400 seats, had 'real momentum' and was a 'tantalising proposition for actors, directors, designers and particularly playwrights to engage their talents around a new totally original play... It is untrodden snow.'It comes in stark contrast to some of the rumoured payment agreements for Hollywood names at other West End theatres in recent years who are reported to have earned more than £20,000 a week. Jessie Buckley, 36, who won the Best Actress Oscar for the film, will star in a new play Afterbirth at the Royal Court Theatre on London's West End The Hamnet actress, 36, who won the Best Actress Oscar for the film, will star in a new play Afterbirth at the Royal Court Theatre on London's West EndAccording to the publication, David said he sensed 'Jessie had an interest in coming back to theatre' and that he thought he knew what would 'excite her'.The London theatre revealed its upcoming plans include staging a Broadway transfer of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play Purpose, along with six world premieres.Afterbirth is by Nina Segal and it has been described as a 'funny, furious and unflinching' portrayal of life after birth and parenthood.The production, directed by Maria Aberg, will have its world debut on January 15 2028 and will run until February 26 that year.The Royal Court Theatre is promising a provocative run of new work, with an impressive line-up of familiar faces and emerging talent set to take the stage in 2027.Among the highlights is The Apology, a world premiere starring Emmy-winner Tobias Menzies, best known for playing the late Prince Philip in The Crown, alongside V (formerly Eve Ensler). The play sees V summon her dead father to confront the abuse he inflicted on her as a child, exploring sexual violence, justice and the possibility of atonement. It runs from March 19 to April 24.The theatre will also host the European premiere of Purpose, the Tony Award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The play follows a prominent African-American political family whose carefully maintained reputation begins to unravel as long-buried secrets emerge. It runs from January 16 to February 27.Elsewhere, Olivier Award-winning actress Juliet Stevenson will lead The Briar Patch, a domestic thriller by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth. When a scandal rocks her community and a family friend is arrested, protagonist Dara begins to question the people closest to her. Directed by Royal Court artistic director David Byrne, the production runs from May 14 to June 26.The programme also turns its attention to the lives of British Army veterans with War Face, a new play by Stage Debut Award-winner Georgie Dettmer, developed with serving and retired soldiers in collaboration with the Chelsea Pensioners. Directed by Jess Edwards, it runs from April 22 to May 1.Tobias Menzies will feature in The Apology at the Royal Court Theatre next yearMeanwhile, Benjamin Kuffour's Working Men follows a quantity surveyor, a building contractor and a project manager on what should be a routine visit to a council estate — until the day threatens to change all their lives. The play receives its world premiere from June 4 to July 10.For something more darkly comic, Alex Medland's professional debut, We're Gonna Kill Billy, brings together four teenage girls plotting to kidnap a billionaire's grandson in a desperate bid to stop a marina development threatening local wildlife. Directed by Royal Court associate director Aneesha Srinivasan, the eco-thriller runs from February 18 to March 27.Beyond the main programme, the Royal Court will bring back its week-long open submission festival for a fourth edition, championing emerging writers selected from the more than 3,000 new plays the theatre reads each year. Its Young Playwrights Award festival also returns for a third year, from July 8 to 10, showcasing work by writers aged 13 to 18 from across the UK.For David, the season marks an ambitious next chapter for the theatre, three years into his tenure as artistic director and following its 70th anniversary celebrations.'I almost can't believe it's ours,' he said of the programme, describing a collection of 'knotty, original, adventurous new plays' that could find a home nowhere else quite like the Royal Court.