Game Of Thrones to Matrix: Rising star Jessica Henwick on her Keanu Reeves fangirl moments

The year was 1999 and sci-fi action cinema as we knew it changed forever with The Matrix. The Wachowski siblings went for epic in every sense of the word when it came to their masterpiece.

The ambitious sci-fi plot debating religion, philosophy, perceived reality, mythology and technology – all wrapped up in what was, back then, cutting edge special effects (hello slowed-down “bullet time”!) and a hero in the form of Keanu “Neo” Reeves – defined an era and redefined a cinematic genre. 

More importantly, it also forced us to think and choose: Take the red pill or blue pill?

It was the question we have all asked ourselves since, including 29-year-old actress Jessica Henwick. Except her “red pill, blue pill” moment was a tad more monumental: To choose between starring alongside Keanu Reeves in the long-awaited sequel The Matrix Resurrections or a possible role as Iron Fist’s Colleen Wing in Marvel’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. 

The studios asked her to choose between the two movies: She could audition for one, if she gave up the chance to audition for the other.

And so a choice was made. And Henwick is now the rising star of The Matrix Resurrections, playing a pivotal role as Bugs. And yes, starring opposite “The One” who, Henwick admitted to CNA Lifestyle, she couldn’t help but fangirl over.

“The first day (on The Matrix Resurrections set) I thought I was fine. And then Keanu arrived on set,” she recalled with a laugh. “He was in costume and he had the hair! And he had the voice!” 

And then the moment. 

“He had to say one line and it was something really simple like ‘but where or why’ or something like that. And there was a group of us and we're all the new recruits for the film, right?” she recounted excitedly.

“He says his line and I look around. Everyone's facial muscles started to twitch because they were trying not to 'corpse'! And as soon as we cut, we all broke into huge grins and was like “It’s Neo! It’s Neo!”

Twenty-two years after the first movie, this long-awaited sequel sees Lana Wachowski return on solo directing duties, with a script she wrote with Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell. It features the original Matrix trilogy's stars, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, reprising their roles, alongside franchise newcomers Henwick, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris.

There were many moments, Henwick confessed, when she couldn’t quite believe she was in The Matrix franchise.

“I remember we were shooting in San Francisco on the skyscraper. And Lana, our director, was inside a helicopter flying above us. We can't hit anything because the helicopter was so low – this helicopter swooping between skyscrapers and Lana is literally strapped in leaning out with the camera. And it was one of those moments where you just go, ‘This is insane!’”

She continued: “The experience of filming it is almost bigger than it will be in the cinema. Those are the ‘pinch-me’ moments. So yeah, on those days, it was hard not to 'fan' out but for the most part, I think I'm quite chill.”

It's been quite the ride for Henwick, whose trajectory has been nothing short of being part of massive, internationally beloved franchises. She played warrior princess Nymeria Sand in hit series Game Of Thrones and snagged a spot in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as an X-Wing pilot.

But this rise to stardom hasn’t stopped the British-born Eurasian actress – her father is British and mother a Chinese-Singaporean – from remembering her Singapore roots. Based in London, she used to regularly visit Singapore at least once a year when she was growing up, all the way until she was around 14 years old.

We tell her we unabashedly claim her as one of us and she gladly returns the love.

“I claim you guys, too!” she replied with a laugh, adding that she loves Singapore hawker food Hainanese chicken rice and chilli crab. 

What she doesn’t love so much is learning how to shoot guns on a movie set.

“For me, a really big challenge was learning how to shoot guns without flinching,” she shared. “Actually, (what was hard was) learning how to shoot guns at all, because I don't do it in my personal life, and I've never done it professionally. It was very new to me, but it's really hard not to flinch.”

Still, Henwick embraced her starring role with vigour, attempting to execute the many stunts required of her in this instalment for a new generation of audiences.

“There definitely was some pressure going into it. It's so integral to the Matrix world,” she said. "And Keanu really gives it his all and so he really sets a high bar. What was it like? Blood, sweat and tears! It's hard.”

She continued: “I didn't break bones but I definitely had a couple of injuries. I injured my lower back, my hip, my knee, my ankle. Yeah, I was doing physio rehab for the next six, seven months after the film ended just to correct what had happened.”

But in the end, it’s all worth it because she’s officially a pop culture legend. She’s in The Matrix. 

“Yeah, it's part of what you sign up (for). The Matrix world is so, so physical. But it's also so 'wow'!”

The Matrix Resurrections is showing in cinemas now.