Martin Henderson

At age 17, in 1992, Henderson starred as Stuart Neilson in the New Zealand prime-time soap opera Shortland Street.[8] He played the role until 1995. Shortland Street became New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera.[9] He subsequently lived in Australia for three years[10] and appeared in a number of Australian films and television productions including Echo Point and Home and Away.

Henderson moved to the United States in 1997 to pursue a career in Hollywood films and to train in a two-year program at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City with a student visa.[11] To pay the tuition, he took a job at night as a restaurant food runner.[12] While at school, he starred as Hamlet in the off-Broadway play Ophelia Thinks Harder. He left the school halfway through the two-year course and moved to Los Angeles.[12]

Heath Ledger helped him financially during a period of numerous auditions without securing any role.[13] Henderson first landed a voice over part in a Fanta commercial, speaking with an Australian accent.[11] In 1999, he appeared in Kick, for which he was nominated for an AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2000.[14] After more than a year unsuccessfully auditioning for film roles in Los Angeles, in 2001 he was cast in a supporting role in the John Woo-directed war film Windtalkers.[15] In 2002, Henderson starred opposite Naomi Watts in the horror film The Ring.[6] Following the box office success of the film, he was cast as Drew in Perfect Opposites,[16] and subsequently as the lead character in the biker film Torque, released in early 2004.[17] Later that year, he starred opposite Aishwarya Rai in the British romantic film Bride and Prejudice and appeared in Britney Spears' "Toxic" music video.[17] In 2005, he appeared in the award-winning Little Fish starring Cate Blanchett.[6] In 2006, Henderson received rave reviews in London's West End in a theatre production of Fool for Love with Juliette Lewis.[18][19]

He was set to star alongside Jordana Brewster in the television series adapted from the 2005 film Mr. & Mrs. Smith. However, the series was not picked up by any network. In 2006, he appeared in the movie Flyboys. He also appeared in a commercial for the 2008 Cadillac CTS, and the House episode "Painless". In 2010, Henderson was cast in Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes' short-lived television series Off the Map as a New Zealand doctor.[20] In 2014, he starred in the multi-platform Australian drama television series Secrets & Lies and in the SundanceTV drama series The Red Road.

In 2015, Henderson appeared in Everest,[21] with Jake Gyllenhaal. In June that year, he joined the cast of Grey's Anatomy, as a potential love interest for series lead Ellen Pompeo's Meredith Grey,[22] making his first appearance in November. The actor exited two years later, his final appearance in October 2017. Henderson told Deadline that his departure was a storytelling-based decision, adding, "This [was] my final year so I was expecting Nathan’s storyline to be wrapped up."[23] In 2016, he starred in the film Miracles from Heaven opposite Jennifer Garner.[24]

Since 2019, Henderson has co-starred on the Netflix series Virgin River alongside Alexandra Breckenridge, playing the role of Jack Sheridan, a former marine with PTSD.[25] The series was renewed by Netflix for a fourth and fifth season in 2021. He was cast in A24 horror film X (2022) as Wayne Gilroy.[26]