Douglas Henshall

About

Douglas James Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series Primeval (2007–2011) and Detective Inspector Jimmy Pérez in the crime drama Shetland (2013–2025).

Henshall’s mother was a nurse and his father a salesman. He attended Barrhead High School. While studying there, he joined the Scottish Youth Theatre. After graduation, he moved to London and trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Henshall joined the 7:84 theatre company in Glasgow, and later returned to London where he received critical acclaim for his theatre work, notably Life of Stuff at the Donmar Warehouse (1993) and American Buffalo at the Young Vic (1997). He married his partner, Croatian writer Tena Štivičić, in Las Vegas in February 2010.

In 1993, Henshall appeared in Dennis Potter’s television adaptation of Lipstick on Your Collar. He also portrayed T. E. Lawrence in a recurring role in George Lucas’s American television series Young Indiana Jones (1992–1996). In 1993 he appeared in series 10 of The Bill. One of his first successful film roles was as Edgar in Angels and Insects…