From Summer Issue 66
Fresh from her role as a journalist in Apple TV’s sci-fi series Silo, Jessica Henwick speaks to Glass about truth-seeking and why the future feels uncomfortably familiar
Jessica Henwick has spent the better part of the last decade moving through worlds on the brink of collapse. From the political violence of Game of Thrones to the simulated realities of The Matrix Resurrections and the sharp social satire of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the 33-year-old British actress has quietly built one of the most intellectually interesting careers of her generation, gravitating towards stories obsessed with power, systems and the fragile psychology of survival. Now she’s entered one of television’s most unnervingly timely universes.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
In the third season of Apple TV+’s Silo, Henwick plays Helen, a journalist investigating the origins of the underground civilisation at the centre of the hit dystopian series. Adapted from Hugh Howey’s novels, Silo imagines a future in which the last remnants of humanity live buried deep underground inside colossal concrete silos, governed by rigid social hierarchies and rules. History has been erased, information is tightly controlled and asking too many questions can become a death sentence. Helen arrives at the precise moment the series begins peeling back its biggest mystery: not just how humanity survives, but who built the system in the first place and why.
Born in Surrey to a Singaporean Chinese mother and an English father, Henwick trained at Redroofs Theatre School and the National Youth Theatre before becoming the first actress of East Asian descent to lead a British television series with Spirit Warriors. Since then, her career has stretched effortlessly between blockbuster franchises and independent cinema, while also evolving behind the camera as a writer and director. Her 2023 short film, Bus Girl, earned a BAFTA nomination and marked the beginning of a creative shift that she describes as transformative in the way she approaches storytelling.
Speaking with Glass from London ahead of Silo season three, Henwick reflects on journalism, the future of cinema and why the series feels less like science fiction and more like a warning.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Helen arrives in Silo as someone actively investigating the origins of the silos and the systems behind them. What initially drew you to her perspective within this world, especially at such a pivotal point in the story?
It’s funny, I was actually a fan of season one and wrote to Graham [Yost], the showrunner. I just wrote him a note saying, “Great work on the show, loved it”. I was just admiring the show, I wasn’t trying to get a role or anything. A year goes by and I get a phone call. They go, “Remember you sent that nice note to Graham Yost?” And I went, “Yeah”. They said, “He’s got a role in the show”.
I was actually quite resistant at first because I’d been pivoting more into film and I was wary of getting sucked back into television because it takes such a long chunk of your life up. But I said, “Well, I like the show, I’ll hear him out”.
He called me and pitched me Helen’s entire storyline, from that opening scene in season two all the way to season four, and I immediately went to my agents and said, “Make it happen”. He really sold me on how important the storyline was. He cried on the phone to me, telling me about her story.
As a fan of the show, I was maybe a little worried at first because the show is called Silo. We’re here for the silo, and suddenly she’s not in the silo. But I think the yearning for answers is already there within the audience. The origin story becomes just as compelling as the future storyline.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Without giving too much away, how would you describe Helen’s relationship to truth and information in season three? Is she someone driven more by curiosity, morality, ambition or survival?
I think she is such a truth seeker. She considers truth above all else. She’s not someone who’s going to tell you a little white lie or think maybe this lie serves the greater good.
She respects everyone’s prerogative to respond however they want to respond, but she feels she has to give people the facts. I think that’s why she became a journalist. Honesty is probably the trait she values most in herself and in other people.
Silo has always explored the tension between control and rebellion. Where does Helen fit within that spectrum and how dangerous is it for someone like her to start asking questions?
It’s definitely dangerous because she’s going up against the powers that be. She’s going up against big money, tech, politicians, government, real power in its most basic form, and she’s just one woman against that world.
I respect it so much because I think it’s incredibly brave to be a journalist trying to tell these stories. What if people come after you? What if they make it look like an accident? I honestly don’t think I could do what she does.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Your introduction at the end of season two immediately shifted the tone and expanded the mythology of the series. What was it like stepping into an already established world while also bringing in a character with such major narrative implications?
I was always trying to find the truth of the scene and play it as naturally and grounded as possible but then the filmmaker part of my brain also knew the tone of the show. Silo can be very heightened and very serious.
So there was this balancing act between making Helen feel completely real within her present-day circumstances, while also making sure it still felt like the same show when cut alongside these futuristic sequences. I didn’t want it to feel like two separate series stitched together. That was actually a challenge I wasn’t used to, playing the tone of the show as well as the tone of the scene.
As a journalist within the Silo universe, Helen seems uniquely positioned to challenge official narratives. Did you look to any real-world parallels or inspirations when shaping the character?
I didn’t pull from one specific person but there’s a journalist I’ve followed for years called Isobel Yeung. She used to work for Vice and now she’s at CNN. She’s covered some incredibly dangerous, hard-hitting stories and she always manages to keep her head and stay composed. I’ve watched a lot of her reporting over the years, so maybe I absorbed some of that through osmosis.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Season three appears set to dive deeper into the origins of the silos themselves. What can you say about Helen’s discoveries and how they might change what audiences think they know about the world?
The great thing about the show is that it’s twist upon twist upon twist. Every time you think you’ve figured out what it’s about, you’re wrong. And Helen’s storyline has exactly that same energy. Every time she thinks she’s got a handle on things, it becomes another matryoshka doll. There’s another story inside it, another person behind the person.
As the season progresses, we do start discovering the origins of the silo, but even then you really have to pay attention because power shifts constantly throughout the show. Who has power and who doesn’t can change on a dime.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Across projects like Game of Thrones, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Matrix Resurrections you’ve often been drawn to stories about systems, power structures and identity. Do you consciously gravitate towards those themes, or do you think they naturally reflect the kinds of questions you’re interested in as a person?
Directing changed everything about how I approach acting. Before, I was incredibly loyal to my character and mainly focused on protecting that character and telling their story properly. You develop a real ownership over your role, especially in television, where directors change episode to episode.
But after directing, I realised the only people who truly see the full artwork are the director and the showrunner. They’re the ones holding every piece in their head. Now I approach a set, asking, “How can I help you tell the story you want to tell?” I’ve become much more collaborative. I see myself more as a facilitator for the larger vision.
I remember years ago working with [the French actor] Vincent Cassel on a film and struggling over a line reading. He told me, “You are looking for a mango, but you are standing under a banana tree”. At the time, I thought, ‘What on earth does that mean?’ But eventually I realised what he was saying. You’re obsessing over one tiny detail when the film is really about something much larger.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Your career has balanced blockbuster franchises with more intimate, psychologically driven films like The Royal Hotel and Cuckoo At this point in time, what kind of storytelling feels most creatively fulfilling to you?
It’s hard to narrow it down because it’s very instinctual for me. I’ll read something and just know whether it’s right.
As an audience member right now, I’m really craving pure escapism and fun. I recently saw Project Hail Mary, and it was phenomenal, imaginative, playful and emotionally sincere. I think people genuinely want to have fun at the cinema again.
But at the same time, I really want to continue working with emerging directors and writers. That became a conscious pivot in my career a few years ago when I started doing more independent films.
There’s something really exciting about being involved early in a filmmaker’s journey. And if putting my name behind a project helps it get made, then I want to do that. That’s partly why we do the big studio films, so we can help support those smaller, deeply personal projects afterwards.
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Silo ultimately asks whether people are happier living inside comforting illusions or difficult truths. After playing characters across so many worlds shaped by survival, conflict and reinvention, do you think human beings genuinely want the truth or just stories that help us live with uncertainty?
I think everyone says they want the truth, but only a small percentage of people can actually handle it, because once you face the truth, you’re suddenly faced with responsibility. If this is true, then what are you going to do about it? How are you going to engage with it? That’s difficult. People have to reckon with their own power, or lack of power.
One of the most frustrating things about reading the news every day is how powerless it can make you feel. Terrible things are happening constantly and you wonder, “What can I actually do about this?” It can feel hopeless at times.
But I think Helen’s position in the story is ultimately that every single person has agency. Every decision creates a ripple effect. Even the decision to do nothing is still a decision.
by Adina Ilie
Photographer: Filip Alexander
Stylist: Sophie Cloarec
Hair: Lisa Laudat using HAIR BY SAM McKNIGHT
Makeup: Valeria Ferreira using LA BEAUTÉ LOUIS VUITTON
Manicurist: Christie Huseyin using ESSIE and THISWORKS
Digi op: Benjamin Meredith-Hardy
Lighting assistant: Guillaume Mercier
Styling assistant: Isobel Atkinson
Talent: Jessica Henwick
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