She Played ‘Jemma Simmons’ In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. See Elizabeth Henstridge Now At 35.

Elizabeth Henstridge is an English actress who has starred in television and independent films. She is best known for her role as Jemma Simmons on the ABC network superhero drama Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Henstridge was born on September 11, 1987 in Sheffield, England. She is of both English and Irish descent and has two sisters.

She attended Meadowhead School then later King Edward VII School. In 2009, she graduated from the University of Birmingham, and went on to study at East 15 Acting School before moving to Los Angeles, California.

Acting Career

One of Henstridge’s first acting credits was when she made her television debut on the long-running British soap opera Hollyoaks.

Her character, Emily Alexander, is in need of a kidney transplant, and so she feigns interest in her half-sister in an attempt to manipulate her into donating one.

The Thompsons

In 2012, she starred in the independent horror film The Thompsons where she played Riley Stuart. The film follows the Thompsons, a vampire family, who seek out the assistance of another vampire clan, the Stuarts, when they must run from the law.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In 2013, Henstridge was cast as a series regular on the action-drama series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In the show, Henstridge played Jemma Ann Simmons, an expert in biological sciences working for the organization S.H.I.E.L.D. As the series progresses, she grows from an inexperienced scientist to one of the agency’s most senior and respected agents.

Henstridge played Jemma from when the pilot aired in 2013 to the series finale in 2020. Fans of the series felt that Jemma showed a lot of growth throughout the show and that they admired her character.

On the subreddit r/shield, one fan stated, “Jemma Simmons has changed so much over the course of the series. She’s one of the best characters I know.”

Another fan on the forum echoed this sentiment when they said, “Simmons is by far one of my favs and has been a huge inspiration to me. Elizabeth has done an amazing job with this character.”

Wolves at the Door

In 2016, she again starred in a horror film called Wolves at the Door as Abigail Foster. The film was loosely based on the Manson Family murders.

Wolves at the Door received no theatrical release in the United States, but was released in parts of Europe where it was unfortunately met with mostly negative reviews from both critics and viewers. Stateside, it was later released on digital platforms.

Christmas at the Plaza

Henstridge starred as Jessica Cooper in the Hallmark movie Christmas at the Plaza in 2019.

What is Elizabeth Henstridge doing now?

Elizabeth is still very active as an actress has recently appeared on the Apple TV+ series, Suspicion, which follows several strangers who are identified as suspects in kidnapping of a media mogul’s son.

On the show, Henstridge stars as Tara, an Oxford University professor and one of the suspects in the kidnapping.

When discussing the show and the characters, Henstridge said on UPI, “The whole series takes place over a week, so their lives are completely turned around. We hope that the audience may then think, ‘That could have been me and what would I do?’ It raises some pretty cool questions…"

The show also stars Uma Thurman, Kunal Nayyar, Georgina Campbell, and Noah Emmerich.

In 2022, Henstridge worked on a podcast called Conference Call, which was a scripted startup parody podcast. The podcast is made up of video conference calls between three characters. Henstridge plays a tech entrepreneur named Julie Burke.

Directing

During the final season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Elizabeth made her directorial debut when she directed the episode “As I Have Always Been” in 2020.

In 2022, she directed an episode of Superman & Lois entitled Anti-Hero. Henstridge also directed a short film called Air which is currently debuting at film festivals and is getting stellar reviews.