British actress Jessica Henwick has been sort of a go-to genre actress for ages with roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Marvel’s Iron Fist series as Colleen Wing, Rian Johnson’s sequel to Knives Out, and sadly had her scenes deleted in Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong.
Henwick’s next big role is playing the new character Bugs in Lana Wachowski’s The Matrix Resurrections sharing screentime with Keanu Reeves’ Neo and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s new incarnation of Morpheus (previously played by Laurence Fishburne).
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the actress revealed some tough choices were made during the casting of the fourth Matrix film and had to turn down a huge opportunity, a chance to officially join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Henwick had her own leap of faith to take. Best known for playing Nymeria Sand on Game of Thrones and Colleen Wing on Iron Fist, she was up for a role in Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings at the same time she was up for the role of Bugs.
She could audition for a potential role in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi & The Legend of The Ten Rings, but wouldn’t be allowed to pursue both parts with The Matrix sequel winning out.
Both Disney and Warner Bros. knew about the other offer and gave her an ultimatum: She could audition for their movie only if she forfeited the competing project. Neither role was guaranteed. “It was a red-pill/blue-pill moment for me,” she says.
This would mean that Marvel Studios didn’t have plans to resurrect the Iron Fist series or her character if they were looking to give her a new part in the MCU. It’s unclear what role she would have auditioned for in Shang-Chi. Also, continues the stance that the Marvel/Netflix shows are not part of the MCU canon.
The Matrix Resurrections debuts on HBO Max and theaters next month.
SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
THE RONIN 