Tricia Helfer

A former Canadian farm girl who found fame as a highly advanced humanoid robot intent on destroying the human race, Donalda, Alberta, native Tricia Helfer was discovered by a modeling agent while still in high school and wasted no time packing her bags for New York City. It wasn't long after arriving in the Big Apple that Helfer won the "Ford Supermodel of the Year" award, with subsequent campaigns for Giorgio Armani, Chanel, and Ralph Lauren soon making her one of the most visible models in North America. Later, during an on-camera acting class intended to train her as a fashion correspondent for Canadian television, the prolific catwalk queen realized that her true ambition was to become a dramatic actress.

In order to pursue her passion, Helfer set her sights on Los Angeles, with an early appearance on the Showtime's sci-fi series Jeremiah serving as both her acting debt and a sneak preview of her future success in the genre. Just one year later, Helfer was cast as seductive Cylon Number Six on the Sci-Fi Channel's miniseries Battlestar Galactica, a resurrection of the late-'70s series of the same name. Due to the success of the miniseries, the TV show continuation of the story soon followed, and proved to be just as enthusiastically received. Her work on the show grew to encompass a variety of different characters -- from murderous spys to a vulnerable, beaten-down captive to an authoritative revolutionary -- as there were innumerable copies of the Number Six model of Cylon, who often evinced quite distinct personalities, so the actress got to flex her acting muscles as the series went on. - Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide