tricia helfer

Early life

Helfer was born in the rural community of Donalda in Stettler County, Alberta. She was raised on her family's grain farm and at the age of 17, while standing in line at a local movie theatre, she was discovered by modelling agency scout Kelly Streit.

Career

Fashion modeling

In 1992, she won Ford Models' Supermodel of the World Contest and was subsequently signed to the Elite Model Management and is currently signed with Trump Model Management. She has appeared in ad campaigns, including Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani. Helfer has walked for top fashion shows such as Carolina Herrera, Christian Dior, Claude Montana, Givenchy, John Galliano, and Dolce & Gabbana. Helfer has graced the covers of Flare, Amica, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Vogue, among others. She has also posed topless for the February 2007 issue of Playboy.

Acting

While working in New York as a model, Helfer hosted a Canadian television fashion program Ooh La La. She relocated to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue a full-time film career. Her first acting assignment was a co-starring role as Sarah on the television series Jeremiah. Thereafter she played the role of a model, Ashleigh James, in the May 16, 2002 episode "The Hunger Artist" on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2002, Helfer played the female lead, Eva, in the independent film White Rush. In 2003, Helfer was chosen to play Number Six, the Cylon agent in the Sci Fi channel miniseries Battlestar Galactica (2003). The miniseries, which was a remake of the 1970s series Battlestar Galactica, was a huge ratings success, due in part to the visually attractive mind games between Number Six and scientist Dr. Gaius Baltar. It has now become a television series in which Helfer is a main cast member; the series is currently in its third season.

In the fall of 2003, Helfer was offered the role depicting Farrah Fawcett in the NBC telemovie Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Charlie's Angels'. She also regularly appeared in photo shoots by Maxim magazine and was the magazine's wall calendar girl for 2005. She was ranked #83 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2005.^[1]. Concurrent with her role in Battlestar Galactica, Helfer began producing and hosting Canada's Next Top Model on May 31, 2006. In 2006, Helfer appeared in the motion pictures Spiral and The Green Chain.

Helfer has been married to lawyer Jonathan S. Marshall of Marshall Wight LLP since 2003. She is represented by Gordon Gilbertson of Gilbertson Kincaid in Santa Monica, California.

In October 2006, it was announced that Helfer would not return to host the second season of Canada's Next Top Model in order to concentrate on her work on Battlestar Galactica.^[2] Helfer will also be playing a role in Electronic Arts Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, as a character named Kilian Qatar, along with her Battlestar Galactica co-star, Grace Park.^[3] She is currenty filming an episode of Super Natural.

Battlestar Galactica

Main article: Number Six (Battlestar Galactica)

In 2003, the cult series Battlestar Galactica was brought back to life, albeit in a reimagined form, as a three hour miniseries. The project was written and produced by Ronald D. Moore and directed by Michael Rymer. Tricia Helfer is a regular cast member in the miniseries Battlestar Galactica. She stars as Number Six, a Cylon operative with a human appearance.

Filmography

• Eventual Wife (2000)
• Jeremiah (2002)
• CSI, The Hunger Artist (2003)
• White Rush (2003)
• Battlestar Galactica (2003) mini-series
• Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels (2004)
• Battlestar Galactica (2004 - Present) television series
• Memore (2005)
• Canada's Next Top Model, Cycle 1 (2006) television series
• The Green Chain (2006)
• Spiral (2007)