Elizabeth Frances Henstridge is an English actress and director. She is best known for starring as Jemma Simmons in the ABC superhero action drama seriesMarvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Henstridge made her professional acting debut in the 2010 short film Easy Under the Apple Bough. She made her television debut in 2011, appearing as Emily Alexander in the long-running British soap operaHollyoaks. She starred in the short film And the Kid, which she also composed. Henstridge was cast in the lead role of the 2012 The CW pilot Shelter, which was not picked up to series. She went on to co-star in the horror film The Thompsons, the crime drama filmGangs of Tooting Broadway, and the ensemble drama filmReach Me. In November 2012, Henstridge was cast as Agent Jemma Simmons, a series regular character in the ABC superhero action drama series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The series was ordered on 10 May 2013, and premiered on ABC on 24 September 2013. For her role in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., she gained further recognition and acclaim from critics. In 2015, Henstridge received positive reviews for her performance in "4,722 Hours", the fifth episode of the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. In contrast to the ensemble nature of the series, the episode contained none from the main cast and was centered around Henstridge's character. The episode's positive critical response focused praise on the bottle episode nature and Henstridge's performance. It was later named one of the best television episodes of 2015 by The Atlantic. In 2016, Henstridge reprised the role of Jemma Simmons in animated form in an episode of the Disney XD superhero series Ultimate Spider-Man. That same year, she was cast as Abigail Folger in the horror film Wolves at the Door, loosely based on the infamous Manson Family's murders. The film was released Direct-to-DVD in the United States on 18 April 2017. In 2019, Henstridge starred as Jessica Cooper in the Hallmark Channel Christmas romantic comedy filmChristmas at the Plaza. In March 2020, it was announced that she was cast in a leading role in the Apple TV+ drama thriller series Suspicion, alongside Uma Thurman.
