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The Ring
Background:
New Zealand born gifted actor Martin Henderson had built fruitful career in his
native land of New Zealand and in Australia before heading for the bright of
Hollywood. An award-winning performer, Henderson, who initially earned
recognition for his staring turn as Stuart Neilson in the New Zealand highly
successful soap “Shortland Street” (1992-95, won a New Zealand Film and
Television Award) and with his movie acting debut as supporting part Tom
Bradshaw in Lynda Heys’ Kick (1999, nabbed an AFI Award), is perhaps best known
by American audience as the video geek Noah Clay in the blockbuster hit thriller
The Ring (2002) and won raves for his bravura performance in the Sweden-produced
Sweet Dreams (2003). The model of Britney Spears’ music video “Toxic,” Henderson
is also memorable for playing roles in films like Torque (2004), Bride &
Prejudice (2004) and Little Fish (2005). He will play roles in the forthcoming
Flyboys (2006) and Smokin’ Aces (2007).
Off screen, the brown-haired, green-eyed actor is a close friend to Australian
movie star Heath Ledger. The two met when they both starred in the 1996 Aussie
soap “Sweat” and soon befriended. At that time, Henderson influenced Heath to
move to Sydney to further pursue his acting career and then they lived together.
New Zealander
Childhood and Family:
On October 8, 1974, Martin Henderson was born on Auckland, New Zealand. At age
13, he joined an open audition held by a local TV program named Strangers at his
school. Landing a part in the series, the future star quickly realized acting as
his true calling. He moved to Australia at age 21 and began a two-year training
program at the New York Neighborhood Playhouse two years later. The New
Zealander is now a resident of Los Angeles, California.
Shortland Street
Career:
Martin Henderson knew he wanted to be an actor while still at school, when at
age 13 he entered an open casting call and won a part in a renowned regional TV
series, “Strangers.” The young Henderson was soon seen in other TV shows like
the film Raider of the South Seas, which cast him as the teen son Jack, and the
series “Betty’s Bunch” (both 1990), before finally having a big breakthrough as
a regular on the popular hospital drama “Shortland Street” (1992-95).
Convincingly playing Stuart Neilson, the up-and-coming Henderson nabbed a 1993
New Zealand Film and Television for Best Male Dramatic Performance in a
Television Show.
After the victory, he moved to Sydney, Australia, and appeared on the
short-lived Aussie soap “Echo Point” (1995) and the long-running drama “Home and
Away” (1996). He also scored a lead as an Olympic-inspired athlete named Tom
Nash in another short-lived series “Sweat” (1996), which also featured a very
young Heath Ledger, before starting a two-year stint as Scotty Gibbs in the
drama series “Big Sky” (1997-99), costarring Gary Sweet and Alexandra Fowler.
Already a recognizable face among TV viewers, Henderson made the leap to the big
screen when director Lynda Heys teamed him with Russell Page and Rebecca Yates
for a movie set in the world of the Sydney ballet, Kick (1999). Playing the
supporting turn of Tom Bradshaw, the actor received some attention and was
handed an Australian Film Institute for Best Performance in a Supporting Role,
that same year. Lured by the triumph, Henderson moved to the U.S to further
pursue his career and sharpened his skills at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New
York, where he was involved in several theater productions like the off-Broadway
play “Ophelia Thinks Harder,” at the Samuel Beckett Theatre.
The talented actor returned to the cinematic industry after completing his
acting training with a small turn as the naïve soldier Private Nellie in
director John Woo’s miserable World War II drama Windtalkers (2002), which
starred the heavyweight Nicolas Cage. Henderson began to make a name for himself
in Hollywood when he was paired with Naomi Watts to solve the mystery behind a
murderer videotape in the Gore Verbinski-helmed horror film The Ring (2002,
played the video nerd Noah Clay). The film was a box office hit, which then led
Henderson to get more prominent roles as well as opportunity to display his
range.
In 2003, the raising star earned good reviews for his fine scene-stealing role,
as Ian/Ken, in the Swedish romantic drama Sweet Dreams, which starred Iben
Hjejle and Bronagh Gallagher. He followed it up with a starring turn opposite
Ice Cube in the motorcycle racing action flip Torque (2004), which was released
to mixed reviews, and an independent version of Perfect Opposites (2004) for
director/writer Matt Cooper and costarred Piper Perabo. The same year, Henderson
took on the lead opposite Indian actress Aishwarya Rai in the Gurinder Chadha-directed
musical comedy Bride and Prejudice (2004), based on Jane Austen’s book of the
same name. In the crime/thriller Little Fish (2005), the actor found himself
acting opposite Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill and Hugo Weaving.
Henderson is set to appear with Max Bollinger, James Franco and Jake Canuso in a
war film by Tony Bill, Flyboys (2006), and join Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman and
Peter Berg for the 2007 released action Smokin’ Aces, directed and written by
Joe Carnahan. He is also scheduled to star along side Juliette Lewis, Larry Lamb
and Joe Duttine in the West End revival of Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love,” for
director Lindsay Posner. The play will see Henderson and Lewis as a couple of
former lovers who meet at a seclusion motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert for
a volatile reunion.
Awards:
