Jessica Henwick was cast in the lead role of Bo for the BBC show Spirit Warriors in 2009. For the role, Henwick trained in wushu with martial arts choreographer Jude Poyer. The show was nominated for several awards, including the Broadcast Awards 2011.

In 2012, Henwick recorded the role of Helen for the second season of the BBC radio play North by Northamptonshire, starring Geoffrey Palmer, Sheila Hancock, and Mackenzie Crook. The show was nominated for a Sony Radio Award in 2012.

In early 2013, Henwick made her professional theatre debut in the international premiere of Running on the Cracks, based on the book by Julia Donaldson. Allan Radcliffe of The Times praised her “excellent” and “understated” performance, while The Guardian wrote, “with tremendous physical presence, Henwick captures the sense of adolescent righteousness, passion and confusion of a girl trying to create order in an unfair universe.” Theatre critic Joyce McMillan wrote that Henwick was “outstanding as Leo”.

Later that year she was cast as Jane Jeong Trenka in the drama Obsession: Dark Desires, which aired January 2014. The adaptation details Trenka’s stalking in Minnesota, 1991, which she details in her book The Language of Blood. Henwick also joined the cast of Silk as new barrister pupil Amy. During the finale episode of Silk, she was accepted to Shoe Lane chambers as a full barrister, not just a pupil. She reprised her role for the spin-off radio series Silk: The Clerks’ Room.

In late 2014, it was revealed that Henwick will be playing an undisclosed role in the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens. With her martial arts training, many have speculated that she may play either a Jedi or Sith.

In 2015, Henwick joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as Nymeria Sand, with Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers playing her sisters. The process included six months of training to use a traditional bullwhip.