Hamnet director Chloé Zhao training to become a death doula

Chloé Zhao has been learning a new skill in the midst of awards season.

The Hamnet director told The New York Times that she "recently trained to be a death doula" in the UK, as she discussed the movie's approach to grief.

Based on Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel of the same name, Hamnet centres on the family of William Shakespeare, played by Paul Mescal, as they deal with the death of their son as a child.

"I just finished Level 1 training in the UK. 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 shared.

"You can see that the grief of losing a loved one doesn't change. 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.

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.

"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."

Death doulas provide "personalised and compassionate support to individuals, families, and their circles of care as they encounter and navigate death", according to the International End of Life Doula Association.