Tricia Helfer is a Canadian actress and model. Her most notable roles include Number Six in Ronald D. Moore’s reimagining of Battlestar Galactica, which aired on the Syfy network between 2004 and 2009, and Charlotte Richards on Lucifer between 2016 and 2021.
Helfer was born on April 11, 1974 in Donalda, Alberta, Canada. She attended William E. Hay Composite High School while also helping on her family grain farm with her three sisters– Trena, Tammy, and Tara.
Early Career/Modeling
At the age of 17, Hefler was discovered by a modeling agency and began her career as a model. In 1992, she won a contest earning her the title of “Ford Models’ Supermodel of the World” and helped her land ad campaigns with Versace, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani among others.
Playboy
Although Helfer officially retired from fashion modeling in 2002, she remained available for product endorsements, ad campaigns, and other projects. She would appear as the cover model in the February 2007 edition of Playboy, as well as posing nude in the magazine that month.
“Nudity to me is not taboo,” said Helfer regarding the appearance. “I feel privileged to be one of this elite Playboy group. Besides, we all have the same parts.”
Acting Career
Helfer worked as a fashion model until 2002 before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting full-time. Her first role occurred that year as she appeared in two episodes of post-apocalyptic drama Jeremiah alongside Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. She also appeared in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2002 as well.
In 2006, Helfer starred in a techno-thriller entitled Memory along with Billy Zane, Terry Chen, Ann Margaret, and Dennis Hopper. The film scored a 14% on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 47% despite the talented cast.
In 2007, Helfer made a guest appearance on the paranormal fantasy drama series Supernatural. In her episode, entitled “Roadkill”, Helfer and her husband are innocently traveling when a highway ghost appears and attempts to kill them. To address, Sam and Dean are called into action to deal with the angry spirit.
In 2007, Helfer appeared in Canadian film Walk All Over Me alongside Leelee Sobieski. The movie, which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, followed Sobieski who decides to impersonate Helfer’s character, a professional dominatrix, only to find herself entangled in a drama involving a suspicious client, three angry thieves, and a whole lot of money.
The 2008 Leo Awards nominated Helfer for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Feature Length Drama, but she did not win the award.
Between 2007 and 2009, Helfer portrayed a recurring character, Carla Baxter, on the USA Network espionage series Burn Notice starring Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, and B-list icon Bruce Campbell. She appears a total of eight times during the show’s seven season run.
Battlestar Galactica
Helfer’s most iconic role was as Number Six in the 2004 reimagining of Battlestar Galactica. Her character, Number Six, appeared in the 2003 miniseries that preceded the show, as well as all 74 episodes of the series during its four season run between 2004 and 2009.
Beyond Helfer’s stunning appearance and sultry sexuality, Number Six was a unique character to portray because she was not human, but Cylon.
Because of this, Helfer always portrayed Number Six, but there were different versions of the character created over the course of the show’s run, giving her a chance to explore different characteristics and traits that made each copy unique.
In 2009, TNT debuted a crime drama television series called Dark Blue starring Dylan McDermott. In 2010, Helfer was picked up to play FBI Special Agent Alex Rice and appeared in all ten episodes of Season 2.
Unfortunately, the show received mixed reviews and enjoyed mild viewership, and so TNT canceled Dark Blue after two seasons.
Two and a Half Men
Helfer made three appearances on CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the recurring character Gail. Initially, Gail is introduced as Charlie Sheen’s fiance’s best friend. After things don’t work out with the friend though, Gail and Charlie begin a sexual relationship of their own.
Gail appeared on the show once each year between 2009 and 2011, but did not return following her third appearance.
In 2012, legal thriller series The Firm premiered both in Canada and the United States as a followup to a 1991 John Grisham novel and 1993 film adaptation of the same name. Helfer appeared as a recurring character, Alex Clark, in 12 of the show’s 22 episodes.
The Firm’s reception was mixed, but mostly negative, and it was canceled after one season.
In 2014, Helfer starred in an ABC crime drama series called Killer Women, which was based on Argentine crime drama Mujeres Asesinas and produced by Sofía Vergara. Helfer played the main character, Molly Parker, after she left an abusive State Senator husband to rise in the ranks of the elite Texas Rangers.
Unfortunately, the series was canceled after one season.
Between 2016 and 2021, the Syfy network aired a fantasy horror drama series called Van Helsing featuring actress Kelly Overton as a descendant of the character Abraham Van Helsing who is tasked to fight vampires in a post-apocalyptic near future.
In seasons 4 and 5, Van Helsing works her way up to the main vampire, Countess Olivia von Dracula, played by none other than Tricia Helfer. Although Helfer only appeared in 2019’s Season 4 and 2021’s Season 5, her role as Dracula was an integral one as the series’ final antagonist.
Lucifer
Between 2016 and 2021, Helfer played the role of Lucifer’s mother, Charlotte Richards, and the Goddess of All Creation. Helfer enjoyed a main cast role for seasons 2 and 3, while she only made an occasional appearance in seasons 5 and 6.
Of the show’s 93 episodes, Helfer appears in 47.
What is Tricia Helfer doing now?
Tricia Helfer’s resume is extensive and diverse, and she remains active in many ways today.
Helfer remains an actress today. Most recently, Helfer appeared in the 2022 film Spin Me Round alongside Alison Brie, Jake Picking, Lil Rel Howery, Aubrey Plaza, and more.
Helfer also appeared in a 2022 episode of Step Up: High Water, and was announced as a star in the TBD film Occupation Rainfall: Chapter 2 with Jason Isaacs, Danny Trejo, and Casper Van Dien.
Tricia Helfer appears regularly at conventions to engage with fans. While many of the conventions are geared towards fans of many shows and films she appeared in, the most common fanbase she engages is her Lucifer crowd.
In 2022, she will be making appearances at the Straight Outta Hell Lucifer Convention, the German Comic Con and the Christmas Con in New Jersey.
Tricia Helfer can be found on Cameo as well. Starting at $150, you can send a personalized message from Number Six to your friends, family, or even to yourself!
Battlestar Galactica Podcast
Tricia Helfer teamed up with journalist Marc Bernardin to host a Battlestar Galactica podcast Battlestar Galacticast. The podcast featured an episode by episode rewatch with commentary from the two offering behind the scenes glimpses and guest appearances by other castmates.
Battlestar Galacticast produced 93 podcasts and successfully watched and recapped each of the 74 Battlestar Galactica episodes. The podcast wrapped on December 15, 2020.
Charity Work
Helfer has always been a charitable person. In 2010, her and fellow actress Katee Sackhoff took things to the next level by riding motorcycles from Los Angeles to New Orleans in a feat to raise awareness for the Gulf Oil Spill.
They wanted to raise awareness and encourage donations to charity, but they also wanted to do something inspiring in the process. After the motorcycle journey, the two founded the Acting Outlaws, which would set up motorcycle rides for the public to take part in and generate money for charity in the process.
Today, the two still sell memorabilia to generate proceeds for charities of their choosing, but there are no rides scheduled at this time.
Helfer is an avid animal lover, and she promotes and contributes to animal-oriented organizations such as Humane Society of United States, Best Friends Animal Society, AmFAR, PETA, Kitten Rescue, and Richmond Animal Protection Society.
Personal Life
In 2003, Helfer married John Marshall, a lawyer that she met at a birthday party for a mutual friend. The two were married for many years, but separated in May 2017 and eventually filed for divorce in 2019 citing “irreconcilable differences.”
The two had no children together.
Miscellaneous Facts
Tricia Helfer may have more in common with her humanoid character Number Six than one might think!
After an incident where a piece of luggage was dropped on her head, Helfer received two artificial discs in her neck and four in her back. She received two more discs in her lower back as a result of mishaps from doing her own stunts on set.
In addition, Helfer is a celebrated voice actress. Her voice has been featured in animated shows such as Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Tron: Uprising, Rick and Morty, and Robot Chicken.
Helfer has voiced characters in celebrated video games as well, including the voice of Sarah Kerrigan in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty for which she received a 2010 Spike VGX Award for Best Performance by a Human Female.
Helfer reprised her role as Sarah Kerrigan in two subsequent StarCraft II expansion packs, but also voiced characters from Halo 3: ODST, Mass Effect 3, and Mortal Kombat X.
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