Tricia Janine Helfer was born on April 11 1974 in the small, rural Albertan town of Donalda in Canada, to grain and chicken farmer parents Dennis and Elaine Helfer. (Tricia also has three sisters; younger sister, Tammy and two older sisters, Trena and Tara.) Beautiful but tall and slender, the young Tricia was always conscious of her body image and often worried she was too skinny, and raised without the influence of television could not dream of a career in the entertainment industry. As she told Craig Kilborn on a late night talk show in 2004, Tricia always felt such a career required a wildness, need of self-expression and a self-confidence she felt she didn’t have, and had no aspirations whatsoever as either an actress or model, making her background a rather unusual one compared to the many entertainers of today, who often begin their careers already in their early childhood. “I was tall and – I thought I was skinny, but apparently I wasn’t skinny enough. I was a twig growing up and I always had this self-confidence issue because I was so skinny.” (Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Apr 10 2004)

Things were about the change, however, when Tricia, 17 and still in high school, was waiting in line at a movie theater in the nearby city of Stettler. As Mode Models’ scout Kelly Streit happened to be visiting his own family in Alberta at the same time, he discovered Tricia standing in the cinema waiting line and approached her with the possibility of Tricia participating in the 1992 Ford Supermodel of the World Contest, the largest modeling contest in the world. Though initially hesitant, encouraged by Streit, the 17-year-old Tricia decided she would give modeling a go and left for New York, USA, leaving behind her the farm that had been her home for the past 17 years as well as earlier plans to study Psychology in university.

Her participation in the contest was a huge success; not only did she win the contest, it instantly put her on the modeling industry map, and she quickly became one of the top models in the business and consequently signed on with French modeling agency Elite Model Management. In her career, she has worked with and/or fronted promotional campaigns for such prestigious names in the fashion industry as Versace, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Carolina Herrera and John Galliano, to name a few. She also also appeared on the cover of such fashion editorials as Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Glamour and Flair.

In the 90’s, while Tricia made several cameo appearances in fashion documentaries such as Unzipped (1995) and Catwalk (1996), she showed no apparent interest in film or television work. This, however, was about to change. Her modeling career still ongoing, around the turn of the millenium, Tricia hosted the Canadian fashion television program Ooh La La and found a new source of interest in acting. Following her acting debut as Inga in the 2000 comedy short, Eventual Wife, Tricia moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue an active career in film and television (thus laying her modeling career to rest), and landed the guest role of Sarah in the two-part pilot episode of Sci-Fi drama series Jeremiah, titled “The Long Road” (2002). This was followed by a notable guest appearance as (ironically enough) self-destructive model (and the episode’s dead body) Ashleigh James on the popular, high-profile forensics drama C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation (2002). She told TV Guide’s Square Off in 2006, “People thought it would bother me, coming from a modeling world, to play that [kind of a role]. [But] I’ve seen anorexia, I’ve seen bulimia…” (Square Off, May 12 2006)

However, it was the year 2003 that was to become a real milestone in Tricia’s life both professionally and personally. That year, following a starring role as Eva in Mark L. Lester’s B-rate crime thriller White Rush, Tricia came to national (and later international) fame with a rather unusual role in a new series. On December 8 2003, Sci-Fi Channel premiered Battlestar Galactica in the United States; a two-part miniseries reimagining the 1978 original TV series by the same name. The miniseries was a tremendous critical and ratings’ success for the Sci-Fi Channel, and the network picked it up for additional episodes, the first of which were to air in 2004. The same year Battlestar Galactica debuted, Tricia married Los Angeles-based entertainment lawyer Jonathan Marshall, whom Tricia says she met through “mutual friends” at a private party (Howard Stern on Demand, February 2007). The two remain happily married to this day.

Following the success of the Battlestar Galactica miniseries, Tricia moved on to portray the iconic 70’s American actress Farrah Fawcett-Majors in NBC’s Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie’s Angels, before reprising the role of the sexy, manipulative and highly intelligent humanoid Cylon “Number Six” (/”Caprica Six”) in the first season of the Battlestar Galactica series. Since the series’ debut, Battlestar Galactica received more than impressive 10 awards and 30 nominations, including a Primetime Emmy in 2007.

Having found her way onto the Hollywood map of talents, 2005 was a busy year for Tricia. As she continued to film episodes for Battlestar Galactica, she spent hiatuses filming a number of independent films and series guest appearances which were aired or released in 2006-2008. These include a guest appearance as Janis Eisner on The Collector (2006), a starring role as Ally Simon in The Genius Club and the role of Stephanie Jacobs in Bennett Davlin’s horror thriller Memory (aka. Mem-o-re) in 2006.

In 2006, Tricia furthermore hosted Season 1 of Canada’s Next Top Model, the Canadian rendition of CW’s hugely successful America’s Next Top Model hosted by Tyra Banks. Although she did not return to host any later seasons due to scheduling conflicts, her CNTM hosting gig nevertheless showcased that, although modeling had now taken a backseat to acting, Tricia remains appreciative of her modeling career and what it has brought her, although the transition from model to actress has not come easy for her. “I certainly wouldn’t go, ‘Oh, I wish I hadn’t modeled,’ but I definitely want people to say, ‘Okay, I think we can see her in a role that isn’t glamorous.’” (Square Off, May 12 2006) “It’s one thing going into a movie audition with acting experience, but going into a TV or film audition with nothing but a modeling background is tough because they assume all you can do is walk in a bikini and maybe chew gum at the same time.” (Calgary Herald, Feb 1 2008)

In 2007, as Battlestar Galactica’s third season came to an end, it was announced that the series fourth season, premiering in March 2008, would also be its last. However, the same year the producers also announced the production of a Battlestar Galactica DVD movie; Razor, which premiered in late November 2007 in the United States, once again saw Tricia as Number Six this time impersonating a human by the name Gina, the love interest of Admiral Helena Cain. Gina pays a heavy price for betraying Cain and the crew of Battlestar Pegasus. For her rather dramatic new turn, Tricia did “a lot of research on post-traumatic stress syndrome and also watching prisoner movies that people would tell me about. But it’s a fun departure for me, from having the Number Six character that’s usually the seductress to then go and be beaten on the floor and have a very vulnerable character.” (Square Off, May 12 2006)

Determined to make it in the film industry, Tricia continued to appear in onscreen work aside from Battlestar Galactica. Following an appearance as General Kilian Qatar in the Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (2007) video game, she guest starred in an episode of the popular drama/thriller series Supernatural in March 2007. Furthermore, she starred as Leila Cole in Mark Leiren-Young’s drama film The Green Chain (2007) before portraying dominatrix Celene opposite Leelee Sobieski in Robert Cuffley’s critically acclaimed Canadian crime drama Walk All Over Me. The film premiered in September at the 32nd Annual Toronto International Film Festival, and was picked up by Weinstein Co. upon the positive response for the film. Whether the film will receive a U.S. theatrical release or not remains to be seen.

In between films and shooting Battlestar Galactica, Tricia continued to model (however unofficially) and has frequently appeared in magazines such as Stuff and Maxim. Although she is no longer a frequenter of the catwalk, she e.g. recently appeared topless in a much publicized issue of Playboy magazine (February 2007), photographed by noted celebrity photographer Sante D’Orazio, whom Tricia handpicked for the shoot. On her decision to appear in Playboy, Tricia told The Hour, “They approached me right after Battlestar came out, and I said ‘No’ to it eventually because I thought, you know, I want people to know me as an actress first and that I have some chops – certainly not Meryl Streep[-esque skills] – but that I have some chops. So it took a little while for the critical acclaim to come; once Battlestar won a Peabody Award and up here I won a Leo Award for Best Actor, then they re-approached me and I thought, you know, ‘Now maybe the time is right. I’m young enough yet so I think I can do the job.’ And I had creative control. Coming from a modeling background I look at some nude photography as art.” (December 6 2007)

Coming up is the fourth and concluding season of Battlestar Galactica. Although rumors have circulated of a potential starring role in a remake of Supergirl, there has been no official announcement regarding this rumor or any other upcoming film or television work of hers. Walk All Over Me is currently in Canadian theaters, and in December 2007 Tricia told The Hour she is currently in talks for another film role as well as a new television series. Tricia also recently landed a talent holding deal with Fox and has a recurring guest star as the mysterious Carla on USA Network’s hit spy series Burn Notice.

Biopgraphy by Sandra N./Tricia Helfer Fan.
January 12 2008 (revised August 8 2008).
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