Jessica Henwick | |
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Born | Jessica Yu-Li Henwick 30 August 1992 Surrey, England |
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Years active | 2009–present |
Jessica Yu-Li Henwick (born 30 August 1992) is a British actress, writer and director. She began her career in 2010 and is best known for her roles in Game of Thrones , Iron Fist , Love and Monsters , The Defenders , Silk , The Matrix Resurrections , The Gray Man , Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Royal Hotel . Her directorial debut Bus Girl was nominated for a BAFTA. [1]
Henwick is from Surrey, [2] the daughter of a Singaporean-Chinese mother of Teochew descent and a Zambian-born English father. [3] [4] [5] Her father, Mark, became an author in 2012 who wrote the urban fantasy series Bite Back. [6] She has two brothers, one older and one younger. [5]
Henwick attended Collingwood College in Camberley. [7] She trained briefly at Redroofs Theatre School before dropping out. [8] She also trained with the National Youth Theatre under the tutelage of Rikki Beadle-Blair. [9]
Henwick happened upon a casting call in Chinatown, London and her mother encouraged her to pursue the opportunity. [10] In June 2009, it was announced Henwick had been cast in the lead role of Bo in the CBBC series Spirit Warriors , [11] making her the first actress of East Asian descent to play the lead role in a British television series. [12] [13] [14] [15]
In early 2013, Henwick made her professional theatre debut in the international premiere of Running on the Cracks , based on the book by Julia Donaldson. The Guardian wrote, "with tremendous physical presence, Henwick captures the sense of adolescent righteousness, passion and confusion of a girl trying to create order in an unfair universe." [16] Theatre critic Joyce McMillan wrote that Henwick was "outstanding as Leo". [17]
Later that year, Henwick was cast as Jane Jeong Trenka in the drama Obsession: Dark Desires about Trenka's stalking in Minnesota, 1991, which she details in her book The Language of Blood. [18] Henwick joined the cast of Silk as new barrister pupil Amy. She reprised her role for the spin-off radio series Silk: The Clerks' Room. [19]
In 2015, Henwick joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Nymeria Sand. She continued performing the role until Season 7. [20] Henwick originally auditioned for the role of Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens before losing out to Daisy Ridley for the role. [21] Nevertheless, she still had a role in the film as the X-wing pilot Jess Pava. The character became a fan favourite. [22] [23]
In 2017, Henwick appeared as Colleen Wing in the Netflix television series Iron Fist . Although critical reception of Iron Fist was generally negative, Henwick's performance in the series was well received. [24] She reprised the role for the series The Defenders , as well as the second season of Luke Cage . [25] At the end of 2017, Henwick was listed as one of Variety 's Top Breakout Stars. [26]
In 2018, Henwick was cast in Godzilla vs. Kong , [27] [28] though her part as well as Zhang Ziyi's role did not make the released theatrical cut. [29]
In 2020, Henwick co-starred in the Fox science fiction thriller Underwater , [30] and the films Love and Monsters and Sofia Coppola's On the Rocks . [31] That same year she was listed as one of The Hollywood Reporter's Rising Stars [32] and won the Brit to Watch award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. [33] The following year she starred in The Matrix Resurrections . IGN called Henwick the "best part of Resurrections", [34] while Deadline Hollywood said she was "what makes the movie worth watching". [35] She was nominated and won Best Supporting Actress on the Gold list Honors for the most outstanding Asian achievements in the film industry. [36]
In 2022, Henwick was in two of the most highly viewed Netflix films of all time, The Gray Man and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery . [37] She directed her short film Bus Girl, shot entirely on a smartphone during a break from filming Glass Onion. It was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Short Film. [38]
In 2023, Henwick joined the cast of The Royal Hotel directed by Kitty Green. [39] [40] Her performance was well reviewed [41] [42] with The Hollywood Reporter calling her 'superb'. [43] The film received an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes. [44]
In 2024, Henwick appeared in Cuckoo opposite Hunter Schafer [45] and reprised her role in the second season of animated series Blood of Zeus. [46]
In 2020, it was announced Amazon had picked up Nancy Wu Done It, a young adult series that Henwick co-wrote. [47] She has a miniseries in development with Emu Films. [48]
In 2022, Henwick wrote an episode for the animated series Moley . [49] Henwick won the Mary Pickford prize for female filmmaker, for the Xiaomi short film ‘Bus Girl’ that she wrote, starred in and directed. [50] The short was nominated for the BAFTA awards in 2023. [51] She wrote and directed the sequel ‘Sandwich Man’ the following year.
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold | Globe Girl | Uncredited | |
2014 | Dr Liebenstein | Rachel | ||
2015 | Dragonfly | Paula Reid | ||
Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Jessika "Testor" Pava | |||
2016 | The Head Hunter | Aiko Koo | ||
The Heart of the Forest | Akira | Short film; Also writer | ||
Balsa Wood | Scotty | |||
2017 | Newness | Joanne | ||
Rice on White | Elena | |||
2018 | Yo! My Saint | Muse | with Kenzo | |
2019 | Baliko | Mara | Short film; Also writer | |
2020 | Underwater | Emily Haversham | ||
On the Rocks | Fiona Saunders | |||
Love and Monsters | Aimee | |||
2021 | The Matrix Resurrections | Bugs | ||
2022 | The Gray Man | Suzanne Brewer | ||
Xiaomi's Bus Girl [52] | June | Also director and writer | ||
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery | Peg | [53] | ||
2023 | The Royal Hotel | Liv | ||
2024 | Cuckoo | Beth [54] | ||
The Land of Sometimes [55] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Spirit Warriors | Bo | Main role; 10 episodes | |
2012 | The Thick of It | Charlotte | Episode: #4.1 | |
2014 | Obsession: Dark Desires | Jane Jeong Trenka | Episode: "Silent Scream" | |
Silk | Amy Lang | Main role; 5 episodes | ||
Lewis | Chloe Ilson | Guest role; 2 episodes | ||
2015–2017 | Game of Thrones | Nymeria Sand | Recurring role; 8 episodes | |
2017 | Fortitude | Bianca Mankyo | Episode: #2.1 | |
2017–2018 | Iron Fist | Colleen Wing | Main role; 23 episodes | |
2017 | The Defenders | Main role; 6 episodes | ||
2018 | Luke Cage | Episode: "Wig Out" | ||
2020–Present | Blood of Zeus | Alexia | Voice; Main Role; 15 episodes | [56] |
2021–2023 | Moley | Dotty | Voice; Main role 45 episodes; also writer | |
2021–2022 | Blade Runner: Black Lotus [57] | Elle | Voice; Main role | |
2022 | Carpool Karaoke: The Series | Self | With Simu Liu | |
2024 [58] | Twilight of the Gods | Sandraudiga | Post production |
Year | Title | Voice Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2015–2016 | Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey | Enu Hanna Roth | |
2022 | Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Jessika "Testor" Pava |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Running on the Cracks | Leo | National tour |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2011–2012 | North by Northamptonshire | Helen | BBC Radio Four |
2013 | Monday to Friday | Julie | BBC Radio Scotland |
2014–2015 | Silk: The Clerks Room | Amy Lang | Series 1 & 2 |
2020 | Harrow Lake | Narrator | |
The Long Way Home | Narrator | ||
2021 | Hold Still Vincent | Faye |
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Accolade Competition | Award of Excellence (shared: Lourdes Faberes + Giles Alderson) | The Heart of the Forest | Won | [59] [60] |
2017 | Asians on Film Festival | Best Original Script (shared with Lourdes Faberes) | Won | [59] [61] | |
Best Ensemble | Nominated | [59] [61] | |||
Variety | Top Breakout Star | Iron Fist | Won | [26] | |
2020 | Newport Beach Film Festival | Festival Honors Award – Brit to Watch | Underwater | Won | [59] [33] [62] |
The Hollywood Reporter | The Hollywood Reporter Rising Young Star | Film/TV career so far | Won | [32] | |
2021 | Gold List Honors | Best Supporting Actress | The Matrix Resurrections | Won | [59] [36] |
2022 | Birmingham Film Festival | Audience Award | Xiaomi's Bus Girl | Won | [59] |
Coronado Island Film Festival | Narrative Shorts | Won | |||
Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Female Director | Won | ||||
Satellite Awards | Best Ensemble | Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery | Won | [63] | |
Hollywood Critics Association | Nominated | [63] | |||
Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Won | [63] | |||
2023 | Gold Derby Awards | Best Ensemble | Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery | Nominated | |
British Academy Film Awards | Best British Short Film | Bus Girl | Nominated | [51] | |
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