Amanda Tapping

Template:Short description Template:Use Canadian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-born Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American military science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe. She starred as Helen Magnus in the science fiction-fantasy television series Sanctuary, which she also produced.

Early life

Born in Rochford, Essex, England, Tapping moved with her family to Ontario, Canada, when she was one year old. She attended North Toronto Collegiate Institute, where she excelled in environmental science and drama. 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

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Tapping at Comic Con 2007 in San Diego

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 episodes of 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Tapping is best known for her portrayal of Samantha Carter in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, which debuted in 1997. She appeared in a main role in all ten seasons of the series. After SG-1 concluded, Tapping reprised the role of Samantha Carter on Stargate Atlantis in the fourth season.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In season 5, Tapping's role on the show was reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional appearances.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tapping chose to focus her attention on the development of a new series called Sanctuary. The show debuted as an original series of eight webisodes released on the internet in 2007, and was later picked up by Syfy as a television series. The bulk of the scenery and characters were entirely green screen and CGI creations. Tapping served 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 18 September 2012, she was cast as an angel named Naomi on season 8 of the TV series Supernatural. She was a recurring character who appeared in seven episodes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She reprised the role in season 13's "Funeralia", nearly five years after the character's apparent death.

She was also named as ACTRA's 2015 Woman of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Directing

Tapping's directing debut was during the seventh season of Stargate SG-1 in an episode titled "Resurrection", written by co-star Michael Shanks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also directed the Sanctuary season two episode "Veritas".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has directed three episodes of Primeval: New World, three episodes (2.12; 3.06; 3.07) of Continuum, and four episodes of Olympus and more recently episodes of Dark Matter, Van Helsing, The Magicians, and Supernatural, as well as the historical drama X Company. She directed five episodes of the Netflix series Travelers and the season finale of the 2017 series Anne with an E.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> In 2022, Tapping also directed two episodes of the television series Motherland: Fort Salem.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Tapping is married to Allan Kovacs and they live together in Vancouver, British Columbia.<ref name="vancouverisawesome2013">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tapping has one daughter with Kovacs.<ref name="vancouverisawesome2013"/> Tapping has openly shared the difficult experiences she has undergone through eight miscarriages during her marriage in hope that her story would help other miscarrying women feel less isolated.<ref name="vancouverisawesome2013"/>

Tapping has two brothers, Richard and Christopher. A third brother Steven, who suffered from epilepsy and often uncontrollable seizures, died in December 2006 of causes unreleased by the Tapping family.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	The Donor	Cassie
1996	What Kind of Mother Are You?	Ingrid Elstad
1997	Booty Call	Dr. Moore
2001	The Void	Prof Eva Soderstrom
2002	Stuck	Liz
	Life or Something Like It	Carrie Maddox
2012	Space Milkshake	Valentina
	Random Acts of Romance	Dianne
2013	Hell in a Handbag	Mother Superior
2014	Kid Cannabis	Teressia Lee Franks
2018	Woodland	Donna	Voice
2024	Levels	MEL	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Forever Knight	Dr. Naomi Ross	"Near Death"
	Degree of Guilt	Marcy	TV film
	Net Worth	Colleen Howe
1996	Side Effects	Dr. Barbara Bertrand	"Easy Breathing"
	Goosebumps	Mrs. Merton	"It Came from Beneath the Sink"
	Due South	Audrey McKenna	"Starman"
	The Haunting of Lisa	Gina / Angel	TV film
	Kung Fu: The Legend Continues	Annie	"Shaolin Shot"
	The X-Files	Carina Sayles	"Avatar"
	Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story	Kathryn Laumann	TV film
	Remembrance	Linda
	The Newsroom	Lindsay Ward	"Dinner at Eight"
1996–1997	Flash Forward	Miss Yansouni	Recurring role
1997–2007	Stargate SG-1	Samantha Carter Replicator Carter	Main role Recurring role (season 8)
1998	The Outer Limits	Cmdr. Kate Girard	"The Joining"
1999	Millennium	Dr. Cantor	"Borrowed Time"
2001	The Void	Prof. Eva Soderstrom	TV film
2004	Traffic	Home Owners Wife	TV miniseries
2005	Earthsea	Lady Elfarren
2005–2009	Stargate Atlantis	Col. Samantha Carter	Guest role (seasons 1–3 and 5) Main role (season 4)
2006	Engaged to Kill	Det. Burns	TV film
2007–2011	Sanctuary	Dr. Helen Magnus	Main role
2008	Stargate: The Ark of Truth	Col. Samantha Carter	TV film
	Stargate: Continuum
2009	Dancing Trees	Josephina Rooney
2009–2010	Riese: Kingdom Falling	Narrator	Main role
	Stargate Universe	Col. Samantha Carter	"Air: Part 1" & "Incursion: Part 1"
2010	Canadian Comedy Shorts	Mary Johnson	"Breakdown"
2012	Taken Back: Finding Haley	Susan	TV film
2012–2013, 2018	Supernatural	Naomi	Recurring role
2013	Motive	Dr. Kate Robbins	"The One That Got Away"
2014	Package Deal	Jillian	"Danny's New Job", "Everybody Loves Beth"
2015	Killjoys	Dr. Jaeger	"Kiss Kiss, Bye Bye"
2017–2018	Travelers	Dr. Perrow	Recurring role (seasons 2–3)
2022	Motherland: Fort Salem	The Mother	Episode: "Revolution Part 2"

Director

Year	Series	Episode(s)
2004	Stargate SG-1	"Resurrection"
2009–2011	Sanctuary	Three episodes
2012–2013	Primeval: New World
2013–2014	Arctic Air
	Continuum
2014	Strange Empire	"Other Powers"
2015	Family for Christmas	Hallmark Channel film
	Olympus	Four episodes
2015–2016	Dark Matter	Two episodes
2015–2017	X Company	Four episodes
2016	The Magicians	"Remedial Battle Magic"
	The Romeo Section	"Seeds of War"
	Van Helsing	Four episodes
2016–2018	Travelers	Nine episodes
2017–2020	Anne with an E	Four episodes
2017	Reel Women Seen	Short
2017–2019	Supernatural	Four episodes
2018–2019	Siren	Two episodes
2019	Blindspot	"Masters of War 1:5 – 8"
	The 100	"Matryoshka"
2020–2022	Motherland: Fort Salem	Seven episodes
2020	The Flash	"Pay the Piper"
	Batwoman	"O, Mouse!"
	Chilling Adventures of Sabrina	"Chapter Thirty-Three: Deus Ex Machina"
2022	First Kill	Two episodes
2023	The Irrational	"Lucky Charms"
2024	Wild Cards	"Romancing the Egg"
	Dead Boy Detectives	"The Case of the Two Dead Dragons"
2024-2025	Murder in a Small Town	Four episodes

Theatre

• The Wizard of Oz
• The Lion in Winter as "Alais Capet"
• Steel Magnolias – West End Theater
• Look Back in Anger as "Alison" (1986)
• Children of a Lesser God as "Sarah" (1987)
• The Taming of the Shrew as "Bianca" (1988)
• Noises Off
• The Shadow Walkers

Awards and nominations

Tapping has won 6 awards, out of 13 nominations.

Year	Award	Category	For	Result
2000	Leo Award	Best Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series	Stargate SG-1: "Point of View"	rowspan=4 Template:Nom
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television	–
2001	Gemini Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role	Stargate SG-1: "2010"
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television	–
2002	Leo Award	Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance – Female	Stargate SG-1: "Ascension"	Template:Won
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television	–	rowspan=2 Template:Nom
2004	Leo Award	Dramatic Series: Best Direction	Stargate SG-1: "Resurrection"
		Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Female	Stargate SG-1: "Grace"	rowspan=4 Template:Won
	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television	–
2005	Leo Award	Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Female	Stargate SG-1: "Threads"
2007	Canadian Comedy Award	Best Actress (Film)	Breakdown
2009	Constellation Award	Best Female Performance in a 2008 Science Fiction Film, TV Movie, or Mini-Series	Stargate: Continuum	rowspan=4 Template:Nom
		Best Female Performance in a 2008 Science Fiction Television Episode	Sanctuary: "Requiem"
		Outstanding Canadian Contribution to Science Fiction Film or Television in 2008	–
	Leo Award	Lead Performance by a Female in a Feature Length Drama	Stargate: Continuum
		Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Female	Sanctuary: "Requiem"	Template:Won
	Gemini Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role	Sanctuary	Template:Nom
2010	Women of Distinction Awards	Connecting the Community	Sanctuary for Kids	Received
2012	Leo Award	Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Female	Sanctuary: "Tempus"	Template:Nom
	Jules Verne Award	Excellence exploration, environmental and cinematic achievements	Stargate SG-1	Received

External links

• Template:Official website
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