Obscure Actor of the Month (May 2009)

Carrie Henn (Aliens, 1986)

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Most people who would know Carrie Henn (b. May 7, 1976 in Panama City, Florida) would know her as Rebecca "Newt" Jorden, the little blonde girl who lived amongst aliens on an abandoned spaceship in one of the decade's most terrifying feature films, James Cameron's Aliens (1986), which starred Sigourney Weaver and Paul Reiser.

Shortly before she landed the role, Henn (now goes by Caroline Marie Henn) lived in Florida, but moved to England when her father relocated there as an officer in the U.S. Air Forces. It was in England that Henn auditioned for the famous part, which won her a 1987 Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor/Actress.

When the film came out on DVD as part of the Alien Quadrilogy box set, Henn was asked to supply commentary, which earned her and her co-cast a nomination from the DVD Executive Awards.

Henn graduated from Atwater High School (California) in 1994, and then earned a BA in liberal studies in 2000, from the California State University, Stanislaus (CSUS) in Turlock, California. Five years later, in 2005, she married fellow CSUS student and future police officer Nathan Kutcher.

Residing in Atwater, Henn now works as an elementary teacher. She has never made another film since or before Aliens, and has no plans to.