Jessica Henwick has quietly carved out a successful acting career for herself. She made a splash on Game of Thrones as the Sand Snake Nymeria Sand, starred opposite Thrones alum Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell) in Marvel’s Iron Fist, and she just starred alongside Kristen Stewart in the deep sea horror movie Underwater, not to mention a small part as a pilot in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
And her role in Star Wars could have been much bigger than that. As she recently told The Hollywood Reporter, Henwick nearly landed the leading role in one of the biggest blockbuster movie trilogies of all time: as Rey the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
“Oh my God, dude. That was fucking six months. That was a long one,” she said of her audition for the part of Rey. “I was auditioning for a different character, actually, so I spent six months auditioning for that character. And then, at the end, said, ‘I want you to be in the film, but I want to write a character for you.'”
"That’s how Jess Pava was created. So, it was a very, very long experience. It’s hard because I’ve been doing this long enough to know that you go in, audition, put it to the back of your mind, don’t think about it and don’t get emotionally invested. But, after six months, you can’t help but just desperately want it. I’m also such a big J.J. fan. So, I was a mess at the end of those six months."
Henwick did accept the role of X-Wing pilot Jess Pava, and she confirmed the character made it through The Rise of Skywalker intact. “Yes! Jess Pava is alive and well. You can read up on all her adventures in new spinoff comic books. So, don’t worry, she’s doing great. She’s living her best life.”
Henwick recalled filming her X-Wing scenes for The Force Awakens in London’s Pinewood Studios, where the Star Wars movie magic is made. “The thing I remember the most is that all the other actors would get motion sickness,” she said. “We got into this plane rig, and it would lift you up 20 feet in the air. It would also move like a rollercoaster. The other actors could only do 10-15 minutes of filming before they would get sick, have to stop and come down to get back on their feet. So, I was the one who was up there saying, ‘No, keep rolling! I’ll just start riffing.’ I love roller coasters so I thought it was hilarious.”
Jess Pava’s X-Wing call sign is Blue Three, and apparently, some fans began creating Jess-and-Rey fanfiction called BlueRey. “Yeah! It was lovely. I think people really connected to the fact that she was the first female X-wing pilot that we’ve seen — in the films, anyway. The amount of fan fiction and fan art was beautiful. That community is wonderful.”
Henwick will also star in the upcoming fourth Matrix movie, where the martial arts skills she used as Colleen Wing on Iron Fist will come in handy.
"It’s like riding a bike, but if you gave me a katana, and a few hours, I could remember some of the things I did. It’s the same with the bullwhip I used on Game of Thrones. But, I definitely don’t practice either in my spare time. I like the idea of going to a different job and learning something new each time. I’m actually trying to get a job now where I have to learn horseback riding"
Something tells us she’ll get her epic trilogy yet, if she wants it.
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