Rihanna played a pivotal role in the production of Hamnet, even though she wasn't physically present in the film. On the 2026 Oscars, held on March 15, Joe Alwyn shared how his fellow cast members bonded over Rihanna's 2011 hit "We Found Love" while working on the Chloé Zhao-directed film. "I think it was the last day we were at the Globe [the team] built," the 35-year-old told Entertainment Tonight at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. "Chloé threw on Rihanna's song, and everyone jumped around. It was a fun party."
Indeed, fans marveled over a TikTok video of the cast—including Joe, Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, and Noah Jupe—dancing to the track in their Shakespearean costumes earlier this year. While Joe (who starred as Bartholomew) will always remember that moment, he's also been in awe of all the love the film has received this award season. Overall, Hamnet has won over 15 awards this year, including Jessie's Best Lead Actress trophy at the Academy Awards.
"You never know how anything is going to be received," he noted. "I felt like I was working with special people and special material. You just hope you have a fun time making it, so seeing people enjoy the movie and responding to it in the way they have is really cool."
As for "We Found Love," Joe isn't the only cast member that still thinks about that song's behind-the-scenes impact on the film. Indeed, Jessie (who portrays Agnes, the pseudonym for Anne in the Maggie O'Farrell book Hamnet is based on) reminisced on how Rihanna's vibrato turned the set into "a rave."
"The whole place started vibrating," the 36-year-old told E! News last November. "All these extras, everybody—it was amazing." Chloé, 43, also echoed the sentiment to E! News that same month, noting that the Calvin Harris-produced track has a deep connection to the film's solemn plot.
"That's one of my favorite songs because it goes, 'We found love in a hopeless place.' And that is the paradox to what it means to be human," she explained that month. "Often when we experience deep loss, grief, and hopelessness, we find love for each other and ourselves."
The film director continued, "So to have been in that river of grief for 10 days in The Globe Theatre, and then you see the joy and love [the cast] have for each other? You understand why grief and loss are part of the human experience: It's to get to the other end."
