Martin Henderson is no stranger to medical dramas, having starred on Shortland St in the 1990s as hunk Stuart Neilson.
Martin Henderson is no stranger to medical dramas, having starred on Shortland St in the 1990s as hunk Stuart Neilson.
From Shortland St hospital to a South American jungle clinic and now Grey Sloan Memorial, the Auckland-raised and Los Angeles-based actor Martin Henderson is set to make the big time with a new role on hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy.
ABC's hit show has signed the 40-year-old Kiwi as a series regular in season 12 where he will play a surgeon, Deadline reported yesterday.
Henderson is set to be the heartthrob replacement to Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey in the wake of the fan favourite's shocking departure.
No stranger to medical dramas, Henderson starred on Shortland St from 1992-1995 as teenage hunk Stuart Neilson, and won a best actor gong for the role at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards in 1993.
Martin Henderson starred on Shortland St in the 1990s as hunk Stuart Neilson.
Then Hollywood beckoned - via a few roles in Australia - and Henderson was cast in the lead of Off The Map, a short-lived 2011 ABC series about aid workers abroad.
The New York Times described his role as a "young, buff doctor in various stages of love and undress ... in a place that seems a lot more like Club Med than a crisis zone."
The show flopped and was cancelled after one season.
But Henderson evidently made a lasting impression with the show's executive producer, Shonda Rhimes, who created Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice.
His experience playing a dreamy, life-saving doctor will now stand him in good stead.
Winning the confidence of a power producer or influential showrunner in Tinseltown can be a foot in the door. The former Westlake Boys High School student - who also starred in Rhimes' production Inside The Box, a 2009 TV movie about a Washington news bureau - has evidently earned her respect.
Grey's Anatomy is one of the highest-rated dramas on US television. Last month, ABC renewed the series for a 12th season. The latest series premieres on US television on September 24.
She flew in for a whistle-stop visit last week, but royal Zara Phillips, 34, was nowhere to be seen when her 30-year-old Kiwi half-sister, Felicity Tonkin, married three months ago in an intimate Karaka ceremony.
Zara Phillips' half-sister Felicity Tonkin and Tristan Wade tied the knot in March.
Felicity, a successful equine vet in South Auckland, is the child of Heather Tonkin, a former art teacher and model, and Mark Phillips, the father of Zara and her older brother Peter.
Phillips met Tonkin at a riding clinic in New Zealand, and the pair had an affair. A paternity suit followed, and Phillips was confirmed as Felicity's father in 1991 after DNA testing.
Britain's Express newspaper reported Zara, who spent part of her gap year in New Zealand, has never spoken to Felicity despite having a close relationship with her other half-sister, Stephanie, the 17-year-old daughter of Phillips and second wife Sandy.
Stephanie was a bridesmaid at Zara's wedding to Mike Tindall, and at half-brother Peter's marriage to Autumn Kelly.
But when Felicity tied the knot on March 1 to her dashing Kiwi polo player partner Tristan Wade, 32, her half-siblings were noticeably absent from the wedding pics.
Tonkin did not wish to discuss her royal sibling when The Diary called yesterday. Asked if Zara had been in touch, Felicity said she was at work and had no comment.
Guitarist's rapid recovery
Aussie boy band 5 Seconds of Summer are to play Vector Arena tomorrow night, despite a pyrotechnic disaster at their London show on Saturday night which saw their guitarist set on fire.
Michael Clifford from 5 Seconds of Summer.
Michael Clifford (right) was taken to hospital when he wandered too close to a burst of pyrotechnics onstage at their Wembley concert, causing his hair and shirt to briefly catch fire, the New York Post reported. He posted a pic online of his heavily gauzed face.
But the 19-year-old pulled a quick recovery and was spotted 24 hours later at Prince Harry's favourite hotspot, Mahiki bar in Mayfair.
