Carolyn Hennesy (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress, writer, and animal advocate. Hennesy's early work consisted of guest appearances and roles in shows and television movies, including Dark Justice and in Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare. She rose to prominence when she was cast in a recurring role in Dawson's Creek. She followed this with a series of guest appearances until she gained international acclaim after landing the role of Diane Miller on the daytime television series General Hospital, for which she earned two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. Following this, she was cast in more recurring roles in shows such as Cougar Town, Revenge, and Jessie. She also received much credibility for her role in The Bay, for which she won her first Daytime Emmy Award.
Hennesy has also taken up writing, including with the 2011 novel The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli, featuring characters from General Hospital, which reached #16 on the New York Times Best Seller list. She is also known for her work as an advocate for animals, notable for her work promoting AZA zoos and aquariums, as well as promoting accredited marine parks like SeaWorld.
Early life and education Hennesy was born on June 10, 1962, in Encino, California. She is the daughter of production designer and art director Dale Hennesy, who won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage.
Career Acting Hennesy starred as Mrs. Valentine on the teen drama Dawson's Creek in the 2000–2001 season, and she had supporting roles in the films Global Effect (2002), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003), The Heat Chamber (2005), Click (2006), and Cougar Club (2007). She made three appearances on That '70s Show and has guest-starred on Reba as the mother of Reba's son-in-law, Van. She made a guest appearance on Drake & Josh as Mrs. Abernathy, the boss of the Ball & Vance Fish Corp. Additionally, she appeared as Judith Haven in an episode of What I Like About You. She starred as Rosalyn Harris in the fifth season of HBO hit series True Blood. In 2016, she joined the cast of the Netflix production Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.
Since 2006, Hennessy has played Diane Miller on the daytime soap opera General Hospital. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for the role in 2010. In October 2011, Hennesy appeared on Jessie as Mrs. Chesterfield, a role she would reprise through the series' entire four-year run, and in November 2011 as Myrna in the "That Still Small Voice" episode of Once Upon a Time. She also guest starred in Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures.
In 2016, Hennesy appeared in the soap opera web series The Bay as Karen Blackwell. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series for the role. Also in 2016, Hennesy was named an American Humane Association celebrity ambassador and spoke before a congressional committee on the organization's new humane conservation initiative. Hennesy is also the producer and host of Animal Magnetism, a radio program featuring wildlife and domestic animal professionals. The program focuses on welfare and conservation issues and examines both the human-animal bond and the global increase in human-wildlife conflict resulting from human over-population growth and climate change. In 2017, she was in the short film Bleeding Hearts: The Arteries of Glenda Bryant with Barbara Rush. In 2018, Soaps She Knows reported Hennesy would star in the film The Swing of Things which was released in 2020. Also that year, she was in the film Fatal Affair.
In 2019, Hennesy was in the film St. Agatha. Also that year she was in the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Author Hennesy has written a series of children's books based on the character Pandora. The first one, called Pandora Gets Jealous, was released January 2008. The sequel, Pandora Gets Vain, was released August 2008. The third book in the series, Pandora Gets Lazy, released March 2009. Book four, Pandora Gets Heart, was released in January 2010. The fifth book, Pandora Gets Angry, was released in February 2011. Book six, Pandora Gets Greedy, was released in June 2012. Book seven, Pandora Gets Frightened, was released in 2013.
Hennesy wrote the 2011 novel The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli featuring characters from General Hospital. The novel reached #16 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Personal life Hennesy is the niece of actress Barbara Rush and cousin of Fox News reporter Claudia Cowan. She lives in Los Angeles. In 2007, Hennesy married Donald Agnelli. They divorced in 2013. She is a trapeze artist, a skill she demonstrated during a 2015 episode of Jessie.
On October 28, 2025, Hennesy broke her leg and needed surgery. She had one surgery and another on November 4. Hennesy recovered from both surgeries to return to acting with a wheelchair.
Filmography Film Year Film Role Director(s) Notes 1992 I Don't Buy Kisses Anymore Bowling Alley Waitress Robert Marcarelli Romantic–comedy filmCredited as Carolyn Henessey 1993 Lightning in a Bottle Marsha Timmons Jeff Kwitny Drama film 1999 Hee/r Minnie Pearl Chip Chinery Short film 2000 Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation Rose (voice) Masahiro HosodaJoe RomersaShigeyasu Yamauchi Anime film 2001 The Elite Elaine Terry Cunningham Thriller film 2002 Surprise Whitney Loren E. Chadima Short film Global Effect Meredith Tripp Terry Cunningham Thriller film Engaging Peter Vivian Kerry BaileyMichael R. Williams Comedy film 2003 Wave Babes Maureen Lisa Knox Comedy filmDirect-to-video Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Rich Woman Jonathan Mostow Science fiction action film Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde Congresswoman with Haircut Charles Herman-Wurmfeld Comedy film 2004 Appleseed Athena Aerios (voice) Shinji Aramaki Anime filmCredited as Lee West The Second Degree Chrissy Le Matin Randall Gifford Drama filmCredited as Caroline Hennessey 2005 Off the Hook The Enchilada Michael Town Short film The Heat Chamber Lila Mark Norberg Drama film 2006 Bambi II Bambi's Mother (voice) Brian Pimental Animated filmDirect-to-video Click Kathy O'Doyle Frank Coraci Fantasy comedy-drama film The Emerald Sun Major Danes Michael Town Short film Conversations with God Sharon Parker Stephen Deutsch Drama film Outta Sync Phaedra Lee Ezra Buzzington Comedy film 2007 Sublime Cheryl Tony Krantz Psychological horror filmDirect-to-video Feeding Carolyn James Arnall Short film Cougar Club Judge Margaret Emerson Christopher Duddy Comedy film Believers Lina Vance Daniel Myrick Horror filmDirect-to-video Til Death Does His Part God Michael Town Short film 2008 Boob Jobs & Jesus Jody Marshall McCabeUrsula Whittaker Short film Yes Ms. Cummings Joshua M. Dragotta Short film Shattered! Adrienne Joseph Rassulo Drama film Necessary Evil Carole Fielding Peter J. Eaton Horror film 2009 Half Truth Soap actress Wade Gasque Short film Scream of the Bikini Ronda (voice) Kiff Scholl Comedy film It's Not Me, It's You Therapist Doc Crotzer Short film 2010 Annie in the Aisle of Irma Marsha Tess Sweet Short film 2011 I Love You Like Crazy Dr. Sing Tess Sweet Short film Happy Hour Dr. Shelia Gilbert (voice) Kat Coiro Short film 2013 Obituary Burglars Carol Ari Costa Short film 2014 The Mundane Goddess Demeter Henco J. Short film Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend? Coach Freeley Peter Hewitt Horror film Dance-Off Mary Alex Di Marco Drama film 2015 Hybrids Aradia Tony Randel Comedy film Mothers of the Bride Kelly Court Sam Irvin Comedy film You're Killing Me Candice Jim Hansen Drama film A Kind of Magic Maggie Tosca Musk Comedy film Frieda's Turn Millie Jay J. Levy Short film 2016 Doritos: Swipe for Doritos Self Tyler Glodt Short film Courting Des Moines Gov. Joanna Sampson Brent Roske Drama film Aged Regina Dorian Frankel Short film Better Criminal Police Chief Ackerman Ben Burke Thriller film The Holy Man Betty Rodriguez Javier Calderon Sports–drama film 2017 Bleeding Hearts: The Arteries of Glenda Bryant Glenda Bryant Jamie HeinrichJames Kelton Short filmAlso producer This Is Christmas Joseph Rassulo Drama film Farmhouse Lynn Minnie Schedeen Short film Diamond Dayze The Boss Alexandra Adomaitis Short filmAlso producer 2018 St. Agatha Mother Darren Lynn Bousman Horror film 2019 She & Her Poppy Sinclaire Nate Hapke Short film Trip's Duplage B.D. Grant Spencer Squire Short film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Domine Lithe J. J. Abrams Epic space opera film 2020 The Swing of Things Mama McGursky Matt Shapira Comedy film Fatal Affair Janice Peter Sullivan Psychological thriller film 2021 Later Daters Carolyn Fred Shahadi Short film 2022 Diamond in the Rough Stella Archebold Jeannette Godoy Comedy film Combat Radio: A Christmas Carol Mrs. Chatchit Carlos Alberto Barbosa Jr.Keythe Farley Comedy filmVanished: Searching for My SisterDetective Nichols 2023 Echo Base Kathleen Wolff Craig Goldstein Science fiction film 2024 Running on Empty Tilda Daniel André Comedy film Wineville Aunt Margaret Brande Roderick Horror filmAlso producer 2025 A Spicy But Not Too Spicy Plumber The Cougar Björn Rühmann Short filmTBAConcert HeroesJoe Nunez
Television