Amanda Tapping

Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a 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 Dr. 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 three years 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, graduating from the University of Windsor School of Dramatic Arts in Windsor, Ontario.

Career

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.

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. In season 5, Tapping's role on the show was reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional appearances. 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.

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. 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.

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. She also directed the Sanctuary season two episode "Veritas". 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 (in which she had a recurring role as Dr Perrow), and the season finale of the 2017 series Anne with an E. In 2022, Tapping also directed two episodes of the television series Motherland: Fort Salem.

Personal life Tapping is married to Allan Kovacs and they live together in Vancouver, British Columbia. Tapping has one daughter with Kovacs.

Filmography

Film

Television

Director Year Series Episode(s)

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 six awards, out of thirteen nominations.