Tricia Helfer

Tricia Janine Helfer (born April 11, 1974)^[2][3] is a Canadian and American actress and former model.

Helfer worked as a fashion model from 1992 to 2002 appearing in ad campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Versace, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani,^[1] and appearing in shows for Carolina Herrera, Christian Dior, Givenchy, and Dolce & Gabbana and others.^[1] She appeared on the cover ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Vogue,^[1] regularly in Maxim magazine and on the February 2007 cover of Playboy.^[4] In 2002, Helfer relocated to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She is best known for her role as Number Six in the science fiction series Battlestar Galactica (2003–2009). She also portrayed the wife of God in the series Lucifer (2016–2021) and had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men.

Early life

Helfer was born in rural Donalda, Alberta, Canada, to Dennis and Elaine Helfer.^[5] She studied at William E. Hay Composite High School in Stettler, Alberta. She lived and worked on the family's grain farm with her three sisters, Trena, Tammy and Tara. Helfer was discovered at age 17 by a modeling agency scout while standing in line at a movie theatre.^[5]

Career

Modeling

In 1992, she won Ford Models' Supermodel of the World contest. Helfer retired from fashion modelling in 2002 and said all her shoots since then are related to projects or product endorsements. She has appeared in ad campaigns for Ralph Lauren, Versace, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani.^[1]

Helfer has walked for top fashion shows, such as Carolina Herrera, Christian Dior, Claude Montana, Givenchy, John Galliano, and Dolce & Gabbana.^[1] Helfer has appeared on the covers of Flare, Amica, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Vogue, among others.^[1] She also regularly appeared in photo shoots by Maxim magazine, was the magazine's wall calendar girl for 2005, and was ranked #57 on the Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2007.^[6] Helfer was also featured as the cover model for the February 2007 issue of Playboy.^[4]

Acting

Helfer relocated to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue an acting career.^[7] Her first acting assignment was a co-starring role as Sarah on the television series Jeremiah. She later played a model named Ashleigh James on the May 16, 2002 episode of ' ("The Hunger Artist"). In 2002, she played Eva in the independent film White Rush.^[8]

In 2003, she played Number Six on Battlestar Galactica. In 2004, she portrayed Farrah Fawcett in the telefilm Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels.^[9] Concurrent with her role in Battlestar Galactica, Helfer began producing and hosting Canada's Next Top Model on May 31, 2006.^[10] She appeared in Spiral and The Green Chain later the same year.^[11]

In October 2006, it was announced that Helfer would not return to host the second season of Canada's Next Top Model so she could concentrate on Battlestar Galactica.^[12] Helfer also played a major role in Electronic Arts' video game Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, as the high-level Nod general Kilian Qatar, along with her Battlestar Galactica co-star, actress Grace Park.^[13] She also starred in the episode "Roadkill" on the second season of Supernatural.

Helfer had a recurring role on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. She played Gail, best friend of Charlie's (Charlie Sheen) fiancée Chelsea (Jennifer Taylor). When Chelsea finds out that her friend is recovering from a breakup, she says she should do so at Charlie's house.^[14] Shortly after Chelsea and Charlie begin a trial separation, Gail begins a sexual relationship with Charlie.

Battlestar Galactica

In 2003, the television series Battlestar Galactica was used as the basis for a three-hour miniseries on the Sci Fi channel. The project was written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. Helfer played the role of Number Six, a humanoid Cylon operative. She continued that role as a regular cast member in the TV series, which completed its fourth and final season on March 20, 2009. Due to the special nature of the Number Six character – there are many "copies" of Number Six with distinct personalities – Helfer has, in effect, played numerous roles on the series. In 2009, she reprised her role as Number Six in Battlestar Galactica: The Plan – a television movie that tells the story of the series from the Cylons' point of view. In 2012, she voiced a prototype Cylon in the prequel Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome.

Awards:

• Leo Awards, Best Lead Performance By A Female in a Dramatic Series, Tricia Helfer ("Pegasus")

Nominations:

• Scream Awards, Breakout Performance, Tricia Helfer as Number Six
• Scream Awards, Best Television Actress, Tricia Helfer

2008–2015

In August 2008, Helfer appeared on the stage of NVISION 08, an event sponsored by NVIDIA, where she discussed her role in Battlestar Galactica as well as the use of computer graphics on the show.^[15] Helfer appeared in an episode of the NBC series Chuck,^[16] and as Michael Westen's nemesis in the USA Network series Burn Notice as "Carla Baxter". She appears as herself in Old 97's music video for their song, "Dance with Me".

She guest starred in "Resonance", the second episode of Warehouse 13 as FBI Agent Bonnie Belski on Syfy. She made a guest appearance in the pilot episode of Fox's 2009 mid-season series Human Target. She has played several prominent video game roles in recent years; including Kilian Quatar in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, Veronica Dare in Halo 3: ODST and EDI, the artificial intelligence aboard the Normandy SR-2 in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3. She voices Sarah Kerrigan in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and the expansion sets Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. Helfer voices Black Cat in The Spectacular Spider-Man and reprised her role in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.^[8]

Helfer joined the cast of Jerry Bruckheimer's TNT drama, Dark Blue,^[17] as FBI Special Agent Alex Rice. The show was cancelled in November 2010 because of low ratings.^[18] In October 2010, she made a guest appearance on Lie to Me.^[19]

In 2011, she starred in The Black Keys' music video for "Howlin' for You".^[20] She made guest appearances in No Ordinary Family (2011),^[21] and Franklin & Bash (2011).^[22] In 2011, Helfer starred as Morgana, a necromancer, in the TV series pilot 17th Precinct from Ron Moore with Galactica's co-stars James Callis and Jamie Bamber.^[23] In October 2011, she got the lead role in the TV pilot Scent of the Missing as Susannah, a K-9 Search and Rescue Volunteer.^[24] In November 2011, she appeared in the Hallmark TV movie Mistletoe Over Manhattan.^[25] For 2012, she signed for the recurring role of Alex Clark in the new NBC TV Series The Firm.^[25] On May 16 and 23 of 2012, she appeared in the two-part season 7 finale of the CBS series Criminal Minds, in which she led a team of bank-robbing serial killers. She guest starred in the second season of the Jane Espenson web series, Husbands.^[26]

In 2014, she played Molly Parker on ABC's Killer Women, a remake of the Argentinian drama Mujeres Asesinas, with producer Sofia Vergara.^[8] Also in 2014, she played Viondra Denniger, the steward and captain's wife of the titular starship in the miniseries Ascension on its long journey carrying people to populate a new world. Helfer voiced Sonya Blade in the fighting game, Mortal Kombat X, which was released in April 2015.

In 2015, she appeared in the series finale of Falling Skies as the Espheni Queen, the leader of the alien race that had invaded Earth and devastated humanity. She also played Louise, a woman attending a doll convention, in the web series Con Man.

2016–present

In 2016, Helfer was added to the main cast for the second season of the Fox series Lucifer, playing the vessel of the titular character's real mother and "Goddess of all creation". She served as the primary antagonist of Season 2, and a minor character in Season 3.^[27][28]

In 2015–16, she played a recurring role as Evan Smith, a corporate attorney in the USA network series Suits.

In 2019, she was added to the main cast for the fourth season of the SyFy series Van Helsing, playing Dracula, the Dark One, who is the ruler of the vampire species.^[29]

Personal life

In 2003, Helfer married Jonathan Marshall, a lawyer whom she met at a mutual friend's birthday party.^[30][31] They separated in May 2017 and Helfer filed for divorce in January 2018, citing irreconcilable differences.^[31] The divorce was settled in 2019.^[32]

In 2011, Helfer became an American citizen.^[33]

She has four artificial discs in her back: two in her neck, resulting from an incident in which a piece of luggage was dropped on her head while she was sitting on an airplane, and two in her lower back from mishaps while doing her own stunts.^{[34][35][36][37][38]}

She co-founded the charity web site "Acting Outlaws" with former Battlestar Galactica co-star Katee Sackhoff; the web site collects donations for several causes and charity events.^[39][40] She is also involved in various causes, from animal rescue^[41] to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.^[42] In 2014, she appeared in a PETA video campaign, encouraging cat owners to keep their cats indoors.^[43]

Helfer is a vegetarian.^[44]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

1. ^ "Tricia Helfer profile". Fashion Model Directory.com. Archived January 5, 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
2. ^ Tricia Helfer. "Thanks for all the bday wishes. Feeling lots of love today". No. 454678261608366080. Archived May 8, 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
3. ^ Famous Female Actors Gr. 4-8. On The Mark Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-77072-777-9.
4. ^ Robertson, Josh (February 23, 2013). "The 50 Hottest Celebrities Who've Posed For Playboy: 42. Tricia Helfer". Complex.com. Archived February 26, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
5. ^ "Tricia Helfer Profile". TV Guide.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
6. ^ "Maxim's Hot 100 Women of 2007". Maxim.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
7. ^ "Bio". TriciaHelfer.com. August 8, 2011. Archived from the original on August 8, 2011.
8. ^ Tricia Helfer at IMDb
9. ^ "The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels'". Flixster.com. June 14, 2005. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
10. ^ "Tricia Helfer – Canada's Top Model". BigBTV.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011.
11. ^ "The Green Chain (2007)". IMDb. Archived September 6, 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
12. ^ "Toronto's Jay Manuel To Host Second Season of Canada's Next Top Model". CityNews.ca. Archived January 6, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 3, 2006.
13. ^ "EA Reveals Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars: Kane Edition". Yahoo! Business News. Archived March 23, 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 3, 2006.
14. ^ Abrams, Natalie (October 15, 2009). "Tricia Helfer to Guest Star on Two and a Half Men". TV Guide. Archived October 19, 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
15. ^ "NVISION 08". Tricia Helfer official site. Archived from the original on August 2, 2008.
16. ^ Mitovich, Matt (November 24, 2008). "Battlestar's Tricia Helfer to Handle Chuck". TV Guide. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
17. ^ "Dark Blue Review". Tricia Helfer.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
18. ^ Sullivan, Brian Ford (November 16, 2010). "Exclusive: TNT Cancels 'Dark Blue'". The Futon Critic.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
19. ^ "Exclusive: Tricia Helfer to Crush on Lie to Me's Lightman". TV Guide.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
20. ^ "The Black Keys' "Howlin' For You"". IFC News. February 10, 2011. Archived from the original on February 14, 2011.
21. ^ "Michael Chiklis Faces No Ordinary Cylon Invasion". Ugo.com. March 1, 2011. Archived from the original on March 6, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
22. ^ "Go Tell it on the Mountain". Clicker.com. August 3, 2011.
23. ^ "Tricia Helfer 17th Precinct Pilot". AOL TV.com. March 4, 2011. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012.
24. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (October 12, 2011). "Battlestar Galactica's' Tricia Helfer Nabs Lead in TNT Pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
25. ^ "Battlestar Galactica Babe Tricia Helfer to Appear in 'The Firm'". Daemons TV. August 19, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011.
26. ^ Vary, Adam B. (June 28, 2012). "'Husbands': EP and star on season 2 of their gay-marriage web series". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
27. ^ Ausiello, Michael (June 21, 2016). "Tricia Helfer Joins Lucifer Season 2 as Literally the Mother From Hell". TV Line. Archived August 8, 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
28. ^ "Tricia Helfer Joins Cast of 'Lucifer'". Aol.video. aol.com. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
29. ^ "Tricia Helfer Talks Playing Dracula on Van Helsing". Den Of Geek. August 2019.
30. ^ Leech, Eric J. (Spring 2008). "Tricia Helfer profile". Urban Male Magazine. Archived October 4, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 7, 2008.
31. ^ Mizoguchi, Karen (January 26, 2018). "Tricia Helfer, Star of Lucifer & Battlestar Galactica, Files for Divorce from Husband of 13 Years". People.com. Archived March 31, 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
32. ^ "'Battlestar Galactica' Star Tricia Helfer Settles Divorce, No Spousal Support for Either Side". theblast.com. May 1, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
33. ^ "I became an American citizen yesterday. Very happy and proud to be an American!! And fellow Canadian's, I'm dual, so no hate. I'm both.". No. 28313200579584000. January 21, 2011.
34. ^ "Tricia Helfer on Lopez Tonight". YouTube. August 4, 2010. Archived April 7, 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
35. ^ Helfer, Tricia. "Right before my back surgery - was in so much pain there '@werdyo:Tricia Helfer @ Spike VGA's 2009 @trutriciahelfer... http://tinyurl.com/7bnt5d6'". No. 240164948976746496.
36. ^ Harley, Bryant. "Number 6 to Ascension: Tricia Helfer Talks". MotoUsa.Com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
37. ^ Dittman, Earl. "Tricia Helfer returns to Earth to go underground in 'Dark Blue'". Digital Journal. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
38. ^ "Tricia Helfer - And here's the picture of my neck right after surgery". Facebook. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
39. ^ "Who We Are". The Acting Outlaws. Archived October 14, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
40. ^ "Our Mission". The Acting Outlaws. Archived September 14, 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
41. ^ "Fur Ball at the Skirball". KittenRescue.org. Archived from the original on March 23, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
42. ^ "Do Something!". Acting OutLaws.org. Archived February 9, 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 1, 2011.
43. ^ Shehori, Steven (April 10, 2014). "Tricia Helfer and PETA Urge Pet Owners to Keep Their Cats Indoors". ET Canada. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014.
44. ^ "...we were eating vegan chili dogs while we were filming that scene. The prop department made them for me because I'm vegetarian."
45. ^ "Hamzeh Mystique Films Announces the Filming Commencement of HELLO BEAUTIFUL". PR Newswire. January 5, 2024. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
46. ^ Bibel, Sara (April 30, 2014). "Tricia Helfer to Star in New Syfy Event Series 'Ascension'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
47. ^ Ausiello, Michael (July 20, 2016). "Lucifer Ups Tricia Helfer to Regular as the Mother From Hell — First Photo". TV Line.com. Archived August 8, 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
48. ^ Boucher, Geoff (May 14, 2019). "'Van Helsing': Tricia Helfer Stakes Claim To Dracula Role & WWE Wrestling Star Also Added To Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
49. ^ "Tricia Helfer (visual voices guide) - Behind The Voice Actors" (Check mark indicates role has been confirmed using screenshots of closing credits and other reliable sources). behindthevoiceactors.com. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
50. ^ Helfer, Tricia (January 15, 2018). "No, I voiced Sonya Blade in it.". No. 953067869612359680. Retrieved February 17, 2019.

External links

• Tricia Helfer on Instagram
• Official website
• Tricia Helfer at IMDb