Virgin River fans know and adore Martin Henderson as the army veteran-turned-barkeeper Jack Sheridan in the heartwarming Netflix drama. However, the New Zealand-born actor enjoyed huge success before landing the part as Jack in 2019 in TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy, Secrets & Lies and more.
But how much do you know about Martin's early career? While we patiently await new episodes of Virgin River, find out all you need to know about season five here, plus keep reading to take a look back at his first major TV role. You can catch a glimpse in the video below - and his accent is so different!
WATCH: Martin Henderson's first-ever TV role was world's apart from Virgin River
Martin began his journey into acting at a very young age. When he was just 13 years old, he first appeared on Strangers, a show which aired on a local television production network in his homeland, Auckland.
After leaving school, Martin turned down the opportunity to study at university and opted instead to pursue his passion for acting. In 1992, he landed his first major role in the primetime soap opera Shortland Street. The star played the character of Stuart Nielson in the medical drama and appeared in over 25 episodes.
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© Photo: RexMartin [centre] with his Shortland Street co-stars
The show ended up becoming New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, and is still broadcast today! Although Martin departed from the show in 1995, he did make a return in 2017 reprising his role as Stuart.
At the time, Martin opened up about reprising Stuart for the small screen.
© Photo: NetflixMartin Henderson as Jack Sheridan in Netflix's Virgin River
He told the New Zealand Herald: "I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it because it is oddly familiar but also there's been so much water under the bridge, so many years. So I feel like a bit of an alien in a way, like a ghost."
Following his big break in Shortland Street, Martin went on to appear in other popular shows like Home and Away, House, Secrets & Lies, Grey's Anatomy, and, of course, Virgin River. On the big screen, Martin has appeared in films like The Ring, Bride and Prejudice, and Smokin' Aces.
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