Natasha Tonya Henstridge (born August 15, 1974) is a Canadian actress. In 1995, she rose to prominence with her debut role in the science-fiction horror film Species, followed by performances in Species II and Species III. She has since starred in a string of films and television series, including Maximum Risk (1996), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), The Whole Ten Yards (2004), Ghosts of Mars (2001), She Spies (2002–2004), Eli Stone (2008–2009), and Would Be Kings (2008). For the latter, she won the Gemini Award for Best Actress. From 2019 until 2022, she starred in the CBC Television series Diggstown.
Contents
Early life
Henstridge was born in Springdale, Newfoundland and Labrador, on August 15, 1974, to Helen Henstridge, a homemaker, and Brian Henstridge, a construction manager and business owner. She was raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta, with her younger brother, Shane.
At age 14, Henstridge entered the Casablanca Modeling Agency's Look of the Year contest and was chosen first runner-up. The following year, she went to Paris to pursue her modeling ambitions. At age 15, she was featured on her first magazine cover, the French edition of Cosmopolitan. Several more magazine covers followed and Henstridge filmed television commercials for products such as Olay, Old Spice, and Lady Stetson. With her modeling career established, Henstridge decided she preferred acting. One of her first roles was as Foxy Fox in the Missoula Children's Theater production of Snow White and the seven Dwarfs staged in Fort McMurray.