Natasha T. Henstridge (born August 15, 1974) is a Canadian fashion model turned actress. Her most notable roles include Species and Species II.

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, in Species, Henstridge played “Sil”, a genetically engineered Alien/Human Hybrid created from a message recieved by SETI. She breaks free from the captivity of a laboratory when her overseers attempt to Euthanise her. Sil embarks on a killing spree while also discovering her powerful instinct to mate.

Sil is then pursued by a team of experts who band together to stop her before “The Species” multiply. With a strong cast and an interesting story angle, Species was an instant hit, raking in $113 Million (USD). Notable for its sexual content, Henstridge won 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.

The movie gave Henstridge a perfect platform to launch her acting career, but she could not capitalize on it as most of the following movies failed to generate the same excitement. Species spawned a sequel Species II, where a male alien was attempting to mate with Eve, a genetic duplicate of Sil.

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. 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, which led to 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 stared in South Park episode 111 “Tom’s Rhinoplasty” as a substitute teacher.

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 sequel 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.

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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