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Natasha Tonya Henstridge (born August 15, 1974) is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable roles include Species and Species II. Like many actresses, this native Canadian began her career modeling (i.e., appearing on the cover of the French edition of Cosmopolitan at age 15) before being featured in TV commercials (e.g., spots for Lady Stetson and Oil of Olay). The voluptuous blonde made a striking feature film debut in 1995 as Sil, the otherworldly antagonist in the sci-fi thriller "Species." Henstridge (who, at least according to studio PR, won out over 800 competitors), played a beautiful but deadly product of alien and human DNA who was intent on procreating in order to create a new race. She had two releases in 1996, though neither created as big an impression as had her debut. In the actioner "Maximum Risk," Henstridge portrayed the girlfriend of Jean-Claude Van Damme's dead twin. Later that year, in "Adrenaline: Fear the Rush," she co-starred with Christopher Lambert, as futuristic cops tracking a serial killer. Henstridge went on to co-star with Robert Sean Leonard in "StandOff" (1998), a drama inspired by recent FBI/militia stand-offs and played a clone of the alien in the inevitable sequel "Species II" (also 1998). Henstridge was born in Springdale, Newfoundland and Labrador, the daughter of Helen, a homemaker, and Brian Henstridge, a biker/contractor. She was raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada with younger brother, Shane. At the age of thirteen, she entered the Casablanca Modeling Agency's "Look of the Year" contest and was chosen first runner-up. The following year, Henstridge went to Paris to pursue her modeling ambitions. At fifteen, she was featured on her first magazine cover, the French edition of Cosmopolitan. Several magazine covers followed and Henstridge went on to do television commercials for products such as Olay, Old Spice, and Lady Stetson. Her modeling career established, Henstridge moved on to a career in movies. In her movie debut Species, Henstridge played "Sil," a genetically engineered Alien/Human Hybrid created from a message received by SETI, who breaks free from the captivity of a laboratory when her overseers attempt to "euthanize" her. Pursued by a team of experts who band together to stop her before her "Species" multiplies, Sil embarks on a killing spree while also discovering her powerful instinct to mate. With a strong cast, an interesting story angle and polished sensuality Species was an instant hit, raking in $113 Million (USD). Notable for its sexual content, the film won Henstridge the MTV Movie award for "best kiss" for a scene in which her character, while kissing an aggressive would-be suitor, impales his head with her tongue. Although several of her features ended up direct-to-cable, Henstridge did enjoy a pivotal supporting role in "Bounce" (2000), playing the attractive woman who causes Ben Affleck to switch plane tickets with another man who is then killed when the flight crashes. She scored in a vulnerable role as mobster Bruce Willis' unhappy wife who finds love with neurotic dentist Matthew Perry in the hit comedy "The Whole Nine Yards" (2000); reprising the role for the 2004 sequel "The Whole Ten Yards." The actress then undertook perhaps her most challenging role to date – replacing an injured Courtney Love just before shooting began on the sci-fi thriller, "Ghosts of Mars" (2001). Appearing in virtually every scene of the film, she gave a heroic turn as a futuristic police officer who must join forces with hardened criminals to battle the titular spirits. The movie gave Henstridge a platform to launch her acting career, but most of the following movies she appeared in were not as successful. Species spawned a sequel Species II, in which a male alien was attempting to mate with Eve, a genetic duplicate of Sil. In 2002, Henstridge portrayed the character of Cassie in the NBC action series, "She Spies" (NBC), which co-starred Kristen Miller and Natasha Williams. She also delivered a strong, sexy performance as Judith Campbell Exner (lover of both President John F. Kennedy and his nemesis, mob boss Sam Giancana) in the otherwise standard Showtime biopic, "Power and Beauty" (2002), before appearing opposite James Brolin in the Lifetime telepic, "Widow on the Hill" (2005). Continuing a successful run on the small screen, she took on a recurring role on the political drama "Commander In Chief" (ABC, 2005 - ) as Jayne Murray, assistant to the Speaker of the House (Donald Sutherland). Eve was played as gentle and more docile than the original Sil, creating an air of sympathy for the character who spends the majority of the movie imprisoned in a glass habitat and undergoing painful experiments. The film was a failure at the box office, taking in $19 million (USD) domestically. A few smaller independent movies followed, including Bela Donna and Dog Park, with varied box office returns. She also starred opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in the action/adventure move Maximum Risk. Despite having some reservations about the sci-fi genre, she signed up for John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars in the lead role and reprised her role as Eve in a brief cameo in Species III. Ghosts of Mars was not well-received, with a 21% rating in Rotten Tomatoes. In 2000, she starred in The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel The Whole Ten Yards. She has played a number of roles on television, such as Caracara and The Outer Limits. From 2005 to 2006, Henstridge had a recurring role in the cancelled ABC drama Commander in Chief, which starred Geena Davis as a fictional female U.S. President. She also hosted Mostly True Stories: Urban Legends Revealed on TLC, a show about urban legends. Natasha guest starred in South Park episode 111 "Tom's Rhinoplasty" as a substitute teacher, and was credited as "the chick from Species." Henstridge was working on the TV show She Spies, prior to its cancellation. She has also completed a TV movie for the Lifetime channel titled Widow on the Hill. In 2006 she filmed the CTV original mini-series Would Be Kings in Hamilton, Ontario. She will also be starring in the upcoming expansion set to the video game Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, entitled Kane's Wrath. In 2008 Natasha played a role on the new ABC show, Eli Stone. She has also been involved with two new productions, joining the cast of Dave Rodriguez's "Anytown," an indie drama that examines a racist high school attack and its aftermath. Henstridge will play a news anchor covering an attack on an Indian-American boy by two fellow students who videotape the crime. The event forces her to examine the media's post-September 11 role in fueling hate crimes committed by youth. She has also been involved with the production of Should've Been Romeo from American Independant Pictures. Henstridge was married to actor Damian Chapa twice. However, the second marriage lasted only a few months and the couple divorced in 1996. She has two sons by actor Liam Waite, named Tristan River Waite, born October 1998, and Asher Sky Waite, born September 2001. She is engaged to Scottish singer-songwriter and actor Darius Danesh. |
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