Tricia Helfer

By SARA TEMPLETON

Tricia Helfer

Tricia Helfer as Number 6, a cyborg from the TV show Battlestar Galactica

Aged 17, Tricia Helfer was discovered by a model scout, Kelly Streit, while standing in line at the movies.

I often fantasise about coincidence and happenstance affecting me in some profound way as well, but so far the best I got was a hot-looking she-male in Thailand asking me for a lighter...

But I digress. Perhaps if I lost some weight and had a face lift and a boob job people would take more notice of my appearance - and gloss over my awesome and/or sparkling personality? No way, mate.

Some people are born outwardly beautiful, and though this is something I've always had trouble dealing with, the idea that you can't choose your parents and that it is indeed totally the 'luck of the draw' gives me comfort.

Anyway, if I worried about my looks all day, I'd be standing in from the bathroom mirror right now, instead of writing this kick-ass article about the well-adjusted if somewhat immodest Tricia Helfer.

Example: "They worry that you'll take away emphasis from the star if you're taller and you're prettier..." said Trish about the problems she has faced in regards to scoring supporting roles.

Born in Alberta - a Canadian province - in 1974, Tricia Helfer spent her youth in the rural community of Donalda, where she lived with her family on a grain farm.

As I've already mentioned, Tricia was discovered as a teenager in 1991 while waiting in line to see a movie (not sure which one, perhaps Far and Away) and was swiftly thrust into the world of high fashion.

Her first port of call after being plucked from obscurity was the Ford's Supermodel of the World Contest in 1992, which she won. Was it her strange likeness to Linda Evangelista, or perhaps her welcoming smile?

Whatever it was, her success in the huge modeling contest led to her signing with the Elite Modeling agency and the early 1990s her career flourished.

Moving to New York, Tricia began making a living as a successful runway model, donning clothes for the likes of Givenchy, Christian Dior and my personal favourite Emanuel Ungaro. She also landed appearances in glossy magazines, with Cosmo, Elle and Vogue to name but a handful.

As well as working on traditional modeling jobs, Tricia Helfer branched out early in career, reporting for a Canadian fashion TV show called Ooh La La. During this time, she realised that it was in front of the camera lens that excited her most.

Though Tricia kept her modeling agents happy, completing work for the likes of lingerie label Victoria's Secret lingerie and working on ad campaigns for Chanel fragrances, her time spent working in the field of television had given her a newfound career direction, and in 1995 and 1996 she was again in front of the film cameras, appearing in Unzipped and Catwalk respectively, which are fashion industry documentaries.

Towards the latter part the 1990s, she moved to Los Angeles to further her goal of becoming an actor. Attending casting calls and audition after audition, Tricia eventually landed her first significant role in the HBO-funded comedy 'Eventual Wife' in the year 2000.

	Perfume: The perfect fragrance can make you feel sexy and in control.
	Lingerie: Give in to your desires and feel slinky and smooth.

This really set the ball rolling, and she next appeared in the 2002 production called Jeremiah, commissioned by Showtime.

Though it was later cancelled, the experience was indispensable, and it helped her land a role as a self-mutilating nut-bag model in Jerry Bruckheimer's internationally popular CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in early 2002.

Also in 2002, wedding bells rang long and loud as Tricia Helfer married Jonathen Marshall, a lawyer.

Two thousand and three turned out to be a big year for the stunning Canadian model, as besides scoring the lead role in the independent movie White Rush - not to mention a judges seat on the 2003 Miss Teen USA pageant - but she was cast as cyborg Number 6 on the Sci Fi cable channel's 1970s remake of the so-lame-its-cool Battlestar Galactica TV series.

It was so popular in fact - despite being panned by critics - that a subsequent episodes have been ordered by the bigwigs.

Tricia Helfer went on to play Farrah Fawcett in the NBC telemovie Behind the Camera: The Unauthorised Story of 'Charlie's Angels' in early 2004. With a dazzlingly warm smile, alluring good looks and an ambitious attitude, expect the former model's star to rise in Hollywood over the next decade.