For Destrehan native Shelley Hennig, the stars have aligned. Currently starring in the action-packed Netflix action comedy series “Obliterated," Hennig's journey has taken her from Miss Teen USA while still in high school in Louisiana 20 years ago to leading lady in her latest featured dramatic role.
Growing up as part of the competitive troupe Dance Unlimited of the River Parishes, Hennig entered the Miss Louisiana Teen USA competition on a lark. It was about gaining confidence and garnering experiences that she thought might help with a career in dance.
But winning that competition changed the course of her life, because it meant representing her state in the larger Miss Teen USA pageant. Hennig won the whole enchilada.
The prize included a scholarship to the private New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. "Frankly, I’d never thought about being an actress, but as luck would have it, I ended up loving the entire process, and stayed at the conservatory for two years, absorbing a whole new craft," Hennig said. "I may not necessarily have a master plan from the outset, but once given an opportunity, I really sink my teeth into learning everything there is to know about a given genre.”
On to Hollywood
Around the time she was finishing up at the conservatory, she was invited to attend the Miss Universe pageant — not as a competitor, but as a guest.
While there, her acting coach, who attended the pageant with her, suggested she go to Los Angeles.
Call it beginner’s luck or fate, but when she arrived in L.A., Hennig was sent to an interview in Burbank for the hit daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives.”
From left Terrence Terrell as Trunk, Shelley Hennig as Ava Winters, Eugene Kim as Paul Yung, Paola Lázaro as Angela Gomez, Nick Zano as Chad McKnight in Netflix's 'Obliterated.'
The audition went so well that she was offered a part on the soap and was told to have her agent and attorney look over the contract. She had neither, and scrambled to find someone who could read the fine print and get the contract back to the studio fast.
Hennig would stay at “Days of Our Lives” for the next four years full time, and on and off for 10 while she took roles in other TV productions and films.
A great steppingstone
Most actors will tell you that the rigors of doing a daily soap opera, with extensive lines and limited takes, will prepare you for anything in the acting arena. Hennig's conservatory training and real-life experiences on the daytime drama were a great steppingstone for what would follow.
In 2014 she did the horror flick “Unfriended," and on TV, “Teen Wolf,” the series in which she had a recurring role for five years. She considers that venue to be her breakout role.
She went on to work with Kat Dennings in the comedy “Dollface” and Kristen Bell in the TV miniseries “The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.”
There was “Justified” with Timothy Oliphant, and “Roman J. Israel” with Denzel Washington.
There were many other projects to follow, and now Hennig, 36, is playing Ava Winters, the lead in the Netflix series “Obliterated” — about an elite special forces team which is out to defuse a bomb that will ultimately decimate Las Vegas.
A tense tale of spies
To say the drug and alcohol-fueled party scene is frenetic is a massive understatement. But it sets the scene for a slew of tactical agents who realize that the bomb they defused was merely a decoy, and in their impaired state must now find the real bomb in record time and save a city.
Think “Mission: Impossible” meets “Animal House” as this motley crew of spies battles inebriation, and the aftereffects of acid tabs, cocaine and Ecstasy, all while taking down arms dealers.
“I woke up every day to find out what craziness I would be involved in on set,” Hennig said.
“There was never a dull moment. In one scene, movie money was dropped from a helicopter right over the Las Vegas Strip. Watching all the people scrambling who thought it was real money was unbelievable.”
Three films this year
Hennig considers “Obliterated” to be a big responsibility, because she's one of the main characters in every episode.
Destrehan native and actress Shelley Hennig takes a break from Hollywood to spend time with niece Havyn Hennig at Mardi Gras World in New Orleans.
She’s come a long way from Destrehan High School, but gets back to Louisiana frequently, even though she lives in L.A. and is constantly on the road shooting.
It’s important to her, she says, to stay in touch with her folks, her older brother, and her nieces.
And she’s not slowing down. She’s made three films already this year: “Teen Wolf: The Movie," “The List” and “Gatlopp,” an indie comedy.
Up next is “Cult Killer,” a thriller with Antonio Banderas and Alice Eve.
Not one to be typecast, Hennig is enjoying the opportunity to be whoever she wants to be and to seamlessly glide between comedy and horror, drama and thrillers — and anything else she decides to do.