Everything to know about Virgin River's Martin Henderson from sobriety challenge to Heath Ledger's friendship

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Martin Henderson is at the heart of Virgin River as Jack Sheridan, but who is the actor from New Zealand?The sixth season of Virgin River was released in its entirety on Netflix on Thursday, December 19, featuring the much-anticipated wedding of Jack Sheridan (portrayed by Martin Henderson) and Mel Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge).With the return of the Netflix romantic drama, fans are eager to know all there is about the 50-year-old actor behind the show's leading man.

Hailing from Auckland, New Zealand, where he was born in 1974, Henderson saw his parents Ian and Veronica Henderson part ways when he was a mere five-years-old.He embarked on his acting journey at the age of 13 with a role in the local TV show Strangers and later chose to skip university to chase his acting ambitions.His big break came in 1992 with the character Stuart Neilson in the Kiwi soap opera Shortland Street, a part he played for three years.Henderson then spent three years in Australia, taking roles in Echo Point and Home And Away, before deciding to try his luck in the United States.In 1996, while working on the drama Sweat in New Zealand, Henderson's life intersected with that of the late Heath Ledger.In an interview, Henderson recalled how he "convinced" Ledger to relocate from Perth to Sydney, which he dubbed the "Hollywood of Australia".Before moving to America and finding success in Mel Gibson's The Patriot, Ledger had been a great support to Henderson, who was struggling to find work.Henderson said: "He [Ledger] was very supportive and generous, giving me some money that he got on the movie."Despite his later success in major films and shows including Big Sky, The Ring, Off The Map, Secrets And Lies, Grey's Anatomy and My Life Is Murder,