John Hensley

Youthful-looking, soulful-eyed actor John Hensley has specialized in playing troubled teen characters such as his breakout roles as Matt McNamara on FX's colorful drama "Nip/Tuck," but his first job was that of a real-life cowboy. Born in Louisville, KY in 1977, Hensley grew up in Kentucky, but followed his dream to Wyoming in order to work on a ranch after graduating high school. Though he always had the acting bug, he decided to pursue ranching at the suggestion of his father after a lifetime of riding. Hensley spent two years being a horse wrangler before attending Ft. Lewis College in Colorado, where he became involved in theatre and started an improv group, Spitting Nonsense. The troupe was well regarded and they were invited to perform with Chicago's famed Second City Theatre. After a week-long trip to New York to test the acting waters, Hensely left college and moved to the Big Apple to pursue acting in 1999. Things started out slowly for Hensley, who first had a bit part in one episode of the improv comedy series "Strangers With Candy" (1999). A guest spot on "The Sopranos" followed in 2000, and in 2002, Hensely landed a starring role as the 16-year-old son of Gabriel Byrne in the short-lived sitcom "Madigan Men." The series received a critical drubbing and only 9 of the original 13 episodes aired. Hensely soon secured a recurring guest role on the Sci-Fi thriller "Witchblade," based on the comic book of the same name. Though an avid comic reader growing up, Hensely admitted that he wasn't familiar with the "Witchblade" series until a viewing of the TV movie that launched the show. The role of Gabriel Bowman, an artifacts dealer that holds clues to the mythology of the title charm, earned him a large online fan base. The character was originally written as a guest starring role, but Hensely was made a regular, credited member of the cast in the second season (2002) though the show was cancelled shortly thereafter. Hensely was then approached for the role of "Nip/Tuck's" Matt. Though a fan of the script, the actor was initially reluctant to take on the role of a teenager again, and executive producer Greer Shepard had to talk him into reading for the part. When not working on "Nip/Tuck," Hensley built his resume with strong indie films. His starring role as a young college dropout in the ensemble drama "Peoples" (2004) received strong reviews. The role had been written for Hensely by director and friend Joseph Ardery, whom Hensley had met working on projects at NYU's film school. He next appeared as the friendly neighborhood drug supplier in the college Ecstasy-dealing film "Fifty Pills" (2005).