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).
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.
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).
- Born:
on 08/15/1974 in Springfield, Newfoundland, Canada
- Job Titles:
Actor, Model
Family
- Brother: Shane Henstridge. born c. 1981
- Son: Ashton Sky Waite. born on September 23, 2001
- Son: Tristan River Waite. born on October 14, 1998
Significant Others
- Husband: Damian Chapa. born c. 1962; married on August 26, 1995; separated in January 1996; divorced; had two wedding ceremonies; couple eloped to Las Vegas and then had church wedding in Canada
- Companion: Liam Waite. together since 1996; father of Henstridge’s two children
Milestones
- 1988 Began modeling at age 14, moved to Paris
- 1989 First magazine cover, French edition of COSMOPOLITAN
- 1995 Feature acting debut, “Species”
- 1996 First co-starring role, in “Maximum Risk”
- 1998 Played a clone of the alien in the sequel “Species II”
- 2000 Cast opposite Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry in “The Whole Nine Yards”
- 2000 Had pivotal supporting role in “Bounce”
- 2001 Cast in the female lead of “John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars”, replacing an injured Courtney Love
- 2002 Had title role in the Showtime movie “Beauty and Power: The Judith Exner Story”
- 2002 Starred in the action series “She Spies”
- 2004 Again played Cynthia Oseransky in “The Whole Ten Yards”
- 2005 Cast as chief of staff, Jayne Murray on ABC’s drama “Commander-in-Chief”
- Appeared in commercials for Lady Stetson, Oil of Olay and Old Spice
- Raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
