After some minor parts in films, which included Deadpool (her breakthrough), she played a major role on Aftermath, a post-apocalyptic supernatural drama series. She went on to appear in Everything, Everything and Ghost Land. Her work on Giant Little Ones in 2018 was very well received, earning a nomination for Best Female Lead at the 2019 Leo Awards.
She was injured filming Ghost Land, where Hickson was told to strike a window using her fists. The director had told her it was safe first, but the glass shattered instead, with Hickson falling and suffering a cut beside her mouth. It left her with some visible scarring, though this isn't always obvious in her subsequent appearance (or may be covered by makeup). For some roles it's left visible, as it fits the character portrayed. Hickson sued the producers over her injury. Manitoba Province in Canada as well fined the production $40,000 over the incident for failing to uphold workplace safety.
She went on to have a recurring role in Deadly Class. Hickson then played Raelle Collar in a leading role on the series Motherland: Fort Salem.
Selected Filmography:
- Deadpool (2016) as Meghan Orlovsky
- Aftermath (2016) as Brianna Copeland
- Everything, Everything (2017) as Kayra Bright
- Ghost Land (2018) as Young Vera
- Giant Little Ones (2018) as Natasha Kohl
- Deadly Class (2018-19) as Petra Yolga
- Motherland: Fort Salem (2020-22) as Raelle Collar
Examples from her work include:
- Broken Bird: Several of her characters are depressed as a result of suffering trauma, which makes them withdrawn at the very least (or in Raelle's case, actually wanting to die at first.
- Butch Lesbian: She's well known now as Raelle, the short-haired, tomboy lesbian witch on Motherland: Fort Salem.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Many of her characters so far have had this. Usually it was either losing a parent (sometimes both) or being raped.
- Fake American: She's mostly played Americans so far.
- Nice Girl: Her characters are generally kind young women, if sometimes subdued by traumatic experiences.
- Starmaking Role: Her minor role on Deadpool gained her recognition.