“Hamnet” Director Chloé Zhao Reveals She's Training to Become a Death Doula: 'Terrified of Death My Whole Life'
- - “Hamnet” Director Chloé Zhao Reveals She's Training to Become a Death Doula: 'Terrified of Death My Whole Life'
Tommy McArdleJanuary 27, 2026 at 10:18 PM
0
Chloé Zhao at the Golden Globes on Jan. 11, 2026
Christopher Polk/2026GG/Penske Media via Getty
Hamnet director Chloé Zhao revealed in a recent interview that she has been training to work as a death doula in the United Kingdom in an effort to face her fear of death
Zhao won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars in 2021 for her movie Nomadland
Her latest movie Hamnet received nine Oscar nominations on Jan. 22
Hamnet director Chloé Zhao is finding time to learn a new skill in the midst of campaigning for her latest film this awards season.
Zhao, 43, told The New York Times in an interview published Saturday, Jan. 24 that she "recently trained to be a death doula" in the United Kingdom, as she discussed the movie's approach to grief.
Based upon Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name, Hamnet centers on the family of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) as they deal with the death of son Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) as a child.
"I just finished Level 1 training in the U.K. In one of the training sessions, we had to research Indigenous cultures from around the world, how they deal with death and dying both today and in the past," Zhao said, after noting that she and Hamnet author Maggie O'Farrell largely agree that people in William Shakespeare's time likely felt grief as intensely as modern humans do.
"You can see that the grief of losing a loved one doesn’t change. However, the societal understanding of death and the space it gives to grief and how it’s embedded in the culture and the medicalization of death have shifted so much. In the modern world, when death is no longer seen as a natural part of life — because now it’s about staying alive as long as we can — there’s almost shame around death," she added.
The International End of Life Doula Association defines a death doula as someone who "provides personalized and compassionate support to individuals, families, and their circles of care as they encounter and navigate death." When the outlet asked Zhao, a two-time Academy Award winner, why she was interested in working as a death doula, she responded, "Because I have been terrified of death my whole life. I still am."
Chloé Zhao on Jan. 10, 2026
Michael Kovac/Getty for AARP
"And because I’ve been so afraid I haven’t been able to live fully," she added. "I haven’t been able to love with my heart open because I’m so scared of losing love, which is a form of death."
Zhao said in a November 2025 interview with Vanity Fair that she has experienced "one after another personal loss" in recent years," including the end of a romantic relationship with British cinematographer Joshua James Richards, whom she collaborated with on past movies like Nomadland, The Rider and Songs My Brother Taught Me. While speaking with the Times, Zhao alluded to experiencing "a midlife crisis" in her 40s, which she described as "the best thing that can happen to you, because you're on your way to a rebirth."
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Chloé Zhao on Jan. 23, 2026
Neilson Barnard/Getty
"You can’t run from this feeling. Your body is changing, and you can feel death," she added. "And because I’m so scared of it, I have no choice but to start to develop a healthier relationship with it, or the second half of life would be too hard. It shouldn’t be this terrifying that I can’t even live."
Zhao's Hamnet was recently nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie also won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama on Jan. 11.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
