THE ANGELS –
Just before Jessica Henwick was cast in “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the then-aspiring actress had already left Los Angeles for her hometown in England.
“I ran out of money, so I went back and moved in with my parents,” she recalled.
Although she had not given up acting entirely, Henwick was struggling to find work in front of the camera. Before leaving Los Angeles, he worked as a crew member on soundstages, an experience he parlayed into his role in Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” which premieres Friday on Netflix.
In the star-studded mystery, Henwick plays Peg, the assistant and manager to model and sweatpants founder Birdie (Kate Hudson). But her experience as a member of her crew was more than an inspiration for her character: it was “hugely educational” for her as an actress, Henwick said.
“Being on a set and hearing how the director communicated with the cast and the crew and how it worked, it was very revealing,” he said.
Although her portrayal of Bugs in “The Matrix Resurrections” received critical acclaim, she still considers herself a “working actor.”
“They’re not just giving things to me,” he said, though he admits that working with Keanu Reeves felt like a turning point in his career, as well as a personal triumph.
“I mean, what an icon. They just don’t make them like that anymore. It’s kind of sad,” she said.
Reflecting on his experience with Reeves, Henwick lamented the ways in which the landscape of Hollywood has changed.
“He’s from an era where it meant something to be a star or an A-lister,” she said. “There are so many actors today. I don’t know if it’s just watered down or maybe we’re overexposed with social media.”
Henwick always knew her chances of making it in Hollywood were slim, which she says played a role in her decision to drop out of acting school after being cast as the lead in the BBC series “Spirit Warriors” in 2009.
“Maybe I got too big for my boots. I don’t know. I just think I realized you don’t have to do that,” he said when asked why he quit. “If I had kept going to that school, I would have gone into debt.”
He said he struggles with the issue of equity in acting given the high cost of training in England.
“It’s definitely biased towards privileged people,” he said. “I know we have some of the best teachers in the world, so I fully support what the schools charge, but it means people from low-income families can’t afford to go.”
Henwick, whose mother is Chinese from Singapore, was also aware of the limited opportunities for people of color in England, which she said was one of the factors that prompted her to initially move to Los Angeles.
“England’s main export, in terms of entertainment, is period dramas. We do it better than anyone in the world. Shakespeare, Austen. Even at the time, the biggest show was ‘Downton Abbey,'” he recalled. “I used to want so badly to be in one of those. The costumes, the language. It’s poetry.”
When asked how to address that lack of representation, Henwick praised “Bridgerton” executive producer Shonda Rhimes for her ability to bring diversity to the genre.
Henwick is looking forward to a more grounded and calm 2023 after years of travel and big projects. But he said that if he has the choice of him in the future, he hopes to work with Nicolas Cage one day.
“I just want to see the method behind the madness,” he laughed. “I also feel like I’m working my way through ’90s action heroes. I’ve worked with Keanu. I’ve worked with Edward (Norton). Nicolas Cage, you’re next.”