You might recognize her more as the twin sister of scientist Sheldon Cooper’s twin sister on The Big Bang Theory, Missy, but Courtney Henggeler is more than just the polar opposite sister. With a late start on her acting career, she’s managed to get her foot further in the door in years since her first appearance on the show.
While she was born in New Jersey in December of 1078, Courtney would go on to spend the formative years of her life growing up in the Pennsylvania Poconos before her parents would move to Seaford, New York when she was fourteen years old. It was here that she met and made friends who would encourage her to audition for the high school theater, first igniting her love of acting.
A Bogged Down Start
Deciding to take a chance she went into acting not long after graduation, though things would be extremely rocky to start and she wouldn’t get her first role until 2003, with it being in the D-grade horror film The Bog People. It’s not ideal and is under three stars on IMDB, but it’s about what pays the bills when you’re coming up in Hollywood.
Courtney Henggeler would keep on trucking forward despite the abysmal horror being her first credit, finally starting to make some progress with being a glorified extra on House in 2005 along with an independent film the same year. She would keep working where she could, holding down steady jobs while scrabbling for acting work again until 2008, which would see her luck begin to turn.
When breaking into television in the 2000s actors ended up on at least one of the big three shows at the time: Law and Order, Criminal Minds, and CSI. Like choosing her first pokemon, Courtney Henggeler took a role on Criminal Minds as an abused housewife who murders her husband, and her journey into acting set off with the pedal to the floor.
The Big Bang Theory
She would be offered a role on a new half-hour sitcom created by Chuck Lorre in 2008, the same creator behind shows like Two and a Half Men. The Big Bang Theory was barely halfway through its first season when Courtney Hanggeler would be invited to play the one-off role of Missy, the main character Sheldon Cooper’s twin sister.
She would only appear in the show twice, once in the first season where she briefly stays with her brother, only to get mercilessly hit on by his weird friends before leaving. Her second would be for Sheldon’s wedding in the season 11 finale, again being mercilessly hit on by a couple of less weird friends this time.
The Big Bang Theory would be the stepping stone she truly needed, leading her to more guest roles on sitcoms and a recurring role on the short-lived Ed Asner show Working Class in 2011. While she still wasn’t getting the big parts she wanted, she was getting there and working her way through Hollywood when she got her first Hollywood feature credit for playing a Flight Attendant in Timberlake/Kunis rom-com Friends With Benefits the same year.
Bigger Parts
The 2010s saw her build up steam as the decade went on, eventually scoring another recurring character spot in the sitcom Mom alongside Anna Faris and Big Bang Theory creator Chuck Lorre in 2013. Her character Claudia would come back through the first three seasons of the show for some hijinks until 2015.
What is Courtney Henggeler doing now?
Her persistence finally paid off, Courtney Henggeler hit gold in 2018 when she auditioned and was cast in the at the time Youtube Red (which seems so long ago) original Kobra Kai, a sequel to the Karate Kid following Billy Zabka’s Johnny Lawrence as he runs his dojo full of misfits. Courtney would be brought in to play the role of Amanda, wife to the original Karate Kid Daniel Larusso played again by Ralph Macchio.
The show would be a surprise hit, even surviving the death of Youtube Red and landing on Netflix, which would continue helping to produce and broadcast the show. Cobra Kai is due to premiere a final season later in 2023, closing out the story after six seasons (and a movie?).
Henggeler recently made her New York City stage debut in the off-Broadway production of ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’. In an interview with BroadwayWorld, Henggeler shared her experiences and reflections on the role. She expressed gratitude for the support she received from friends, family, and fellow cast members, particularly Alison Fraser. Despite initial fears about the stamina required for stage performances, Henggeler found herself able to connect with the material almost every night, which boosted her confidence. She also mentioned the joy of daily cast dance parties before Act 3. When asked about future stage roles, Henggeler affirmed her interest but hinted at a need for rest before her next theatrical endeavor.
Courtney also tried her hand at screenwriting in 2020, writing the made-for-television film The Surrogate which was produced by her husband. The film was released to middling reviews, being about the same as a typical Lifetime-core movie.
Courtney Henggeler would meet her spouse, actor turned producer Ross Kohn at some point, with the two marrying in 2015. They would welcome two children, a son in 2017 and a daughter in 2019.
Since their marriage, Courtney Henggeler has acted in many films produced by her husband, including television movies like Escaping Dad and Feed, which were both well-regarded considering the low-budget nature of the films.
Good things are still to come on the horizon for Courtney, with the actress currently in production on the film The Boys in the Boat, directed by George Clooney and co-starring Joel Edgerton. The film doesn’t have a solid release date yet, but when it does come out Courtney is bound to start making more waves throughout Hollywood.
Related Posts:
