Douglas Henshall: Who is the Shetland star? What has he been in? Who is he married to?

According to the Radio Times, the 57-year-old was not actively pursuing a villainous role but had said previously that he would “love to play a baddie again”. He said: “It’s very difficult to make conscious decisions about what you’re going to do when you’re a 57-year-old white man. There aren’t so many roles around for me any more.”

That said, the talented thespian has certainly come a long way from when he began acting at the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow and then the Mountview Theatre School in London. As the National Galleries Organisation reports his first ‘successful’ films were ‘Angels and Insects’ (1995) and Peter Mullan’s ‘Orphans’ (1997) but since then he has boasted an extensive career in TV, theatre and radio.

In commemoration of his beloved performance in Shetland and future roles which fans hold high hopes for, here is an overview of Douglas Henshall including who he is, what he has starred in and who the Scottish actor is married to.

Who is Douglas Henshall?

Douglas James Henshall is an acclaimed actor who was born on the 19th of November, 1965, in Glasgow where he grew up. According to Rotten Tomatoes: “Although he had worked with a youth theatre (initially to impress one of the local girls), he intended to pursue a career as an artist or journalist, but when he was unable to obtain a place in his schools of choice, the 18-year-old headed to London to study at the Mountview Theatre School.”

After training, he returned to Glasgow where he joined the 7:84 Theatre company. Henshall also attempted to squeeze jobs out of BBC Scotland but this yielded little results at the time. So, he returned to London where audiences were delighted by his theatre performances in productions like "Life of Stuff" at the Donmar Warehouse (1993) and "American Buffalo" at the Young Vic (1997).

By 2005, he debuted in the West End as Biff Loman in the play ‘Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller. From there, he starred in many TV shows including ‘Primeval’ (2007), ‘The Silence’ (2010), ‘Shetland’ (2013), and  ‘Outlander’ (2014) to name a handful.

Who is Douglas Henshall married to?

Henshall is married to the famous playwright and screenwriter Tena Štivičić. According to Hello! Magazine: “Tena, who hails from Zagreb in Croatia, studied at the Academy of Dramatic Art before going on to complete an MA in Writing for Performance at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

“The 45-year-old has written plays in both her native language and in English.

“Her first English language work, Fragile, played at the Arcola Theatre and was adapted for BBC Radio 4. It won numerous awards at festivals in Croatia and Slovenia, including best European Play and Innovations Award at Heidelberg Stückemarkt in Germany.”

As for the question of was Douglas Henshall married before? The answer is no. Henshall has only ever been married to her after the pair tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2010.

What has Douglas Henshall starred in?

Here is an overview of Henshall’s on-screen career in the last decade according to TV Guide:

Why did Henshall quit Shetland?

Henshall spent nine years in his role on Shetland. Last year, he chose to quit at the end of series seven to pursue other acting opportunities. The BBC has since confirmed, however, that the crime drama will continue.

When asked why he quit, he said: “To be honest, I thought we’d murdered enough people on a small island.

“I think 10 years is a very big chunk of time.

“I think we’d explored his personal story.

“I think all the ends of those threads were needing to be tied up in some way.”

He added: “It means that there’s a lot more work for Scottish actors, for a crew, there’s more money coming into the islands.

“You know, so, I just hope they don’t make a mess of it, that’s all.

“I think it’s certainly the right thing for me to go.

“And I wasn’t going to leave.

“(Shetland writer) David Kane and I, after series five, sat down and thought how many more of these can we credibly do?

“We thought that if we’d another two seasons, then we could tie it up and end it well.

“But that was to end the whole show, it wasn’t just to end Jimmy Perez and for him to walk away.

“That was the show that was going to end.

“The BBC have decided that they want to resurrect it and reinvent it to a degree, so it’s not going to be the show that I was in, but it does give them room to do something different.”