Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965 in Rochford, Essex) is an English-born Canadian actress, producer and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Currently she stars as Dr. Helen Magnus in the Syfy Channel series Sanctuary.
Born in Rochford, Essex, England, she moved with her family to Ontario, Canada when she was three years old. She attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute where she excelled in environmental science and drama. However, when she finished in 1984, she decided to focus her attention on drama, attending the University of Windsor School of Dramatic Arts in Windsor, Ontario.[1]
As of 2004, Tapping lives with her husband, Alan Kovacs, in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has one daughter, Olivia B., born on 22 March, 2005. Tapping has two living brothers, Richard and Christopher. Chris is her fraternal twin, who works in Toronto as a database administrator. A third brother, Steven, died in December 2006.[2]
After graduation Tapping continued to study theatrical arts while performing in several stage productions. She appeared in several television commercials and played a variety of roles in television and film productions, such as The Outer Limits and The X-Files. She also formed a comedy troupe, the "Random Acts", with collaborators Katherine Jackson and Anne Marie Kerr, in Toronto in the early 1990s.[3]
Tapping is best known for her portrayal of Samantha Carter in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, which debuted in 1997. After SG-1 aired its final episode, Tapping reprised the role of Samantha Carter on Stargate Atlantis as the new commander of the Atlantis expedition.[4] In season five however, Tapping's role on the show was reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional appearances[5] due to her choosing to focus attention on the development of a new series for Syfy called Sanctuary. The show consisted of 13 episodes, which expanded on an original show released on the internet in 2007 as a series of eight webisodes, where the bulk of the scenery and characters are entirely green screen and CGI creations. Tapping serves as both star and executive producer of the show.
In 2007, she won a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Actress for her role in the short film Breakdown.[6]
Tapping's first directing experience was during the seventh season of Stargate SG-1 on an episode titled "Resurrection", written by co-star Michael Shanks.[7] She directed the seventh episode of Sanctuary season two titled "Veritas".[8]
