Jessica Henwick

Jessica Henwick

Actor
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Life Story

Jessica Henwick is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Nymeria Sand in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011), and Colleen Wing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making her debut in the Netflix television series Iron Fist.

Her film debut was St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009) (2009).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Pedro Borges

Jessica Yu Li Henwick (born 30 August 1992) is an English actress. She was the first actress of East Asian descent to play the lead role in a British television series, having starred in the children's show Spirit Warriors. She is also known for her roles as Nymeria Sand in HBO series Game of Thrones, X-wing pilot Jessika Pava in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Colleen Wing in Iron Fist and The Defenders.

Henwick was born and raised in Surrey, the daughter of a Singaporean Chinese mother and a Zambian-English father, Mark Henwick, author of the Bite Back series of novels. She trained at Redroofs Theatre School and the National Youth Theatre.

In June 2009, it was announced that Henwick had been cast in the lead role of Bo for the BBC show Spirit Warriors, making her the first actress of East Asian descent to play the lead role in a British television series. For the role, Henwick trained in wushu with martial arts choreographer Jude Poyer. The show was nominated for several awards, including the Broadcast Awards 2011.

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. Allan Radcliffe of The Times praised her "excellent" and "understated" performance, while 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." Theatre critic Joyce McMillan wrote that Henwick was "outstanding as Leo".

Later that year she was cast as Jane Jeong Trenka in the drama Obsession: Dark Desires, which aired January 2014. The adaptation details Trenka's stalking in Minnesota, 1991, which she details in her book The Language of Blood. Henwick also joined the cast of Silk as new barrister pupil Amy. The series brought in an average of 5 million viewers per episode. She reprised her role for the spin-off radio series Silk: The Clerks' Room and later that year went on to play a young Oxford University student in Inspector Lewis.

In 2015 Henwick joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Nymeria Sand, with Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers playing her sisters. The process included six months of training to use a traditional bullwhip. She continued performing the role until Season 7.

 
Family

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Trivia

Attended Redroofs Theatre School. Previous students include Kate Winslet and Dani Harmer.
A member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. Previous members include Daniel Day-Lewis, Dame Helen Mirren, Ed Westwick and Orlando Bloom.
Played piano competitively as a child.
Her role on the children's series Spirit Warriors made her the first East Asian actress to play the lead role in a British television series.
She plays the sister of Keisha Castle-Hughes and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers on Game of Thrones.
She was raised in Surrey, England. She received her acting training from the Redroofs Theatre School and the National Youth Theatre.
Her father is Mark Henwick.

 

Personal Quotes 

I've shied away from playing Asian characters. if you look back, I'm playing characters that have no relevance to my ethnicity.
It's always fun playing a villain, I do have to say.
I really struggle to fight and say lines at the same time. It's hard.
When I'm traveling, I like extremes. It's nice for me to go to Canada in the mountains where it's snowing or to Cambodia where it's stifling.
I went snorkeling between tectonic plates in Iceland's Silfra fissure in the winter. You have to wear thermal layers and a wet suit and what's called a 'teddy-bear suit' so you don't die of hypothermia. My lips still went blue. That was an experience that I will carry with me for the rest of my life - so beautiful and so quiet.
In Singapore, I'd spend the majority of my time at hawker centres because the food there is incredible.
I was always going back and forth between Singapore and the U.K.
The seafood in England is sad.
I'm not a good katana user, bo staff user.
I was a real wild kid, spending much more time outdoors than I ever did indoors.
When I came on to 'Iron Fist,' it was really Colleen Wing that sold it for me. I thought it was a good opportunity to see a really strong female Asian American.
I've always made a point to play roles that aren't specified by their ethnicity.
I would love to see an Asian American superhero.
I grew up in the English countryside, raising ducks and chickens.
Asian food is amazing. I love a good Milo Dinosaur, bubble tea, and things like that.
I have a T-shirt that says Game of Stones, which has the Flintstones dressed as 'Game of Thrones' characters on it.

 

 
Filmography

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