Carrie Henn (American actress)

Last updated
Carrie Henn
Born
United States
Occupation(s)Actress, teacher
Notable work Aliens (1986)
Parents
  • Kenneth Henn (father)
  • Roseleen Henn (mother)
RelativesChristopher Henn (brother)

Carrie Henn is an American former actress perhaps best known for the role of Newt in the 1986 science fiction film Aliens . [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Aliens

In 1984, Hollywood casting agents came to third-grader Henn's school in England near where she was living at RAF Lakenheath, a Royal Air Force base in England. [4] Her father, Kenneth, was in the United States Air Force and stationed at RAF Lakenheath. [4] After leaving the Air Force Kenneth Hall became a nurse at a county jail. [4] Henn's mother, Roseleen, was also a nurse, her brother Chris had a short scene in Aliens as Timmy, the brother of Henn's character Newt, that was edited out of the film and he later went on to work as a probation officer. [5] [4]

The Aliens casting department were seeking an unknown child actress for the film and despite no previous acting experience, Aliens writer-director James Cameron, making only his third feature film, said he was drawn to Henn's "great face and expressive eyes" and cast her to play Newt, the besieged child of slaughtered space colonists. Cameron said "There was a quiet, soulful quality that I was looking for with the character. Carrie had it." [4]

Following Aliens release, Henn's mother Roseleen stated in an interview "People would call up and leave messages saying, 'You should never have gotten that part.' She put up with a lot of spiteful jealousy." [4]

Henn's parents invested the majority of her Aliens income for her future, only allowing her to only spend a small amount. [4] Henn did not have a role in the 1992 sequel Alien 3 , her character Newt was swiftly killed off in a spaceship crash, yet despite not appearing in Alien 3 lead actress Sigourney Weaver invited Henn to the film's premiere as her guest, Henn said Weaver made sure she was sitting next to her. [4]

Later life

Henn chose not to continue an acting career following the U.S. Air Force's transferring of her father Kenneth to a military base in Northern California when Aliens was first released. [4] In an interview Henn said she "contemplated going back into doing something with acting, because I live in California now, but I wanted to be a normal child... It's a little different than England, and so I wanted to kind of get into American life and make friends." [6]

Henn earned degrees in child development and liberal studies at California State University at Stanislaus [4] and became an elementary school teacher. [7]

Henn went on to make personal appearances at comic book conventions including the Aliens 30th Anniversary panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2016. [8]

References

  1. ↑ Williams, Stephanie (February 25, 2020). "Aliens' Newt Is More Than Someone To Be Saved". Syfy. Archived from the original on March 16, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  2. ↑ Moser, Zachary (July 27, 2024). "Carrie Henn Left Acting But She Hasn't Forgotten Her Aliens Fans — Where "Newt" Is Now". Screen Rant .
  3. ↑ Raftery, Brian (July 23, 2016). "Thirty Years Later, Newt Remembers Filming Aliens". Wired .
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Steptoe, Sonja (August 13, 2001). "Down to Earth". People .
  5. ↑ Pickavance, Mark (August 13, 2007). "Whatever happened to Carrie Henn?". Den of Geek . Archived from the original on November 11, 2020.
  6. ↑ Garzajan, Joe (January 20, 2024). "Whatever Happened To Newt Actress Carrie Henn From Aliens?". /Film .
  7. ↑ Nawlicki, Krystian (2024). "Carrie Henn: From an "Alien" star to dedicated elementary teacher". MSN.
  8. ↑ Rodham, Sarah (July 23, 2016). "'Everybody showed up': James Cameron on the special bond of the 'Aliens' cast 30 years later". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on July 24, 2016.


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