Tahmoh Penikett

Tahmoh Penikett (; ; born May 20, 1975) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Karl "Helo" Agathon on SyFy's 2004 television series Battlestar Galactica and Paul Ballard in the Fox series Dollhouse. He has appeared in TV series Supernatural, the Showcase time travel show Continuum, and as the antagonist Darius in the 2006 racing video game Need for Speed: Carbon.

Early life Penikett was born in Whitehorse, Yukon. He is the son of former Yukon premier Tony Penikett, who moved to Victoria, British Columbia from England at age 12, and Lulla Sierra Johns, an Upper Tanana woman from the White River First Nation in the Yukon. He has three siblings. He graduated from the Victoria Motion Picture School and studied at the Lyric School of Acting in Vancouver. From 2004 to 2005, Penikett portrayed Ray Chase, who appeared in eleven episodes of the Canadian police drama Cold Squad. He played a lead role as Noah Hamilton in the 2005 made-for-TV film Hush alongside actress Tori Spelling. He had a role in the video game Need for Speed: Carbon as a street racer named Darius. He also appeared in four episodes of the television series Whistler as Elias Noth. Penikett provided the voice for antagonist Troy Hammerschmidt in the Adult Swim show Titan Maximum. In 2010, Penikett played the lead role of Matt Ellman on Syfy's miniseries Riverworld, an adaptation of the science-fiction books written by Philip José Farmer of the same name. He starred in the first two episodes of Warner Bros' Mortal Kombat: Legacy as Kurtis Stryker, which debuted in April 2011 on YouTube; he was replaced by Eric Jacobus for season 2.

Among his early acting work were stints on assorted Canadian TV series such as Cold Squad. He also appeared on the TV show Smallville -- in the Season 3 episode "Resurrection" as Vince Davis and in the Season 6 episodes, "Nemesis" and "Prototype", as Sgt. Wes Keenan. He portrayed a police officer for a predominantly gay neighbourhood in the 2004 The L Word episode "Losing It", which also starred Battlestar Galactica co-star Nicki Clyne in a related storyline.

In 2003, the 1978 science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica was "reimagined" as a three-hour miniseries on the SciFi Channel. The production was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Penikett, a local actor, auditioned and was cast in the part of Karl "Helo" Agathon, an officer in the Colonial Fleet. The miniseries proved highly successful, and a full Battlestar Galactica series was commissioned. The role was not based on a character in the original show and was meant to be confined to the miniseries only. However, both the producers and test audiences were sufficiently impressed with the character, and Penikett's performance, that the decision was made to make Helo recur on the show.

Penikett in 2014In 2009, Penikett was cast as Paul Ballard in Joss Whedon's science-fiction drama television series Dollhouse, which aired on the Fox network Friday nights at 9:00.

Dollhouse was canceled at the end of its second season, and the series finale aired on Friday, January 29, 2010. In 2012, Penikett guest-starred as a politician named Jim Martin in the first season of Showcase's Continuum. He returned as a recurring character for the show's second season. In 2013, Penikett was cast in the CW TV series Supernatural, appearing in the ninth season premiere as a fallen angel who claims to be Ezekiel. The character's actual name was revealed as Gadreel in episode nine, and Penikett reprised the role in episodes 10, 18, 21, and 22. He also landed a recurring role on the mid-season drama Star-Crossed, which premiered in February 2014.

In 2014, Penikett guest-starred in the 200th episode of Criminal Minds as Michael Hastings, an ex-CIA agent and leader of the terrorist group, The Regime Squad. Since 2014, he has also starred in the award-winning web series Riftworld Chronicles.

In 2024, Penikett portrayed Ed Finley in the Lifetime film The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story.

Personal life Penikett lives in Vancouver with his family. Charity work In April 2008, in support of the Babz Chula Lifeline for Artists Society, which raised money for their (late) friend and fellow Canadian actor Chula's cancer treatment, Penikett and his Battlestar Galactica colleague Kandyse McClure auctioned off dinner with the two of them in Vancouver.

Filmography +Film Year Title Role Notes 2002 Go-Go Boy (Prelude) Aaron Fitz (Go-Go Boy) Short film 2005 Sandra Goes to Whistler Conrad Short film 2006 Stanley's Girlfriend Stanley Short film 2006 Trapped Ashes Young Leo Segment: "Stanley's Girlfriend" 2007 The Green Chain Brett Hall 2007 Taming Tammy Wilson 2007 Trick 'r Treat Henry 2010 The Hostage The Figure Short filmAlso executive producer 2012 Big Time Movie Agent A 2013 Man of Steel Jed Eubanks 2013 Down River Chris 2014 The Portal Alar Short film 2015 Painkillers Major John Cafferty 2015 Justice League: Gods and Monsters Steve Trevor Voice, direct-to-video 2016 Pure Pwnage Charles McBean 2017 Deadly Secrets by The Lake Santos Alvarez 2021 The Last Victim Richard 2023 Jonah Henrik

Television Year Title Role Notes 1996 Murder on the Iditarod Trail n/a Television film 2002 Glory Days Eric Forester Episode: "No Guts, No Glory" 2002 Dark Angel ND Cop Episode: "Freak Nation" 2002 Wildfire 7: The Inferno Sheriff Television film 2002 Stargate SG-1 Third Episode: "Unnatural Selection" 2003 Under the Cover Jonas Television film 2003 Just Cause Principal Joe Decker Episode: "Blackboard Jungle" 2003 Battlestar Galactica Lt. Karl Agathon Miniseries, 2 episodes 2004–2007 Smallville Vince Davis/Wes Keenan 3 episodes 2004–09 Battlestar Galactica Lt./Capt. Karl Agathon Series regular (65 episodes) 2004 The L Word Sheriff Episode: "Losing It" 2004–2005 Cold Squad Det. Ray Chase Series regular; season 7 (13 episodes) 2006 Hush Noah Hamilton Television film 2006 Lesser Evil Greg Television film 2007 Robot Chicken Armpit/Karl C. Agathon/Scott Trakker Voice, episode: "Rabbits on a Roller Coaster" 2007 Whistler Elias Noth 4 episodes 2009 Titan Maximum Troy Hammerschmiddtt Voice, 4 episodes 2009–2010 Dollhouse Paul Ballard Series regular (27 episodes) 2010 Riverworld Matt Ellman Television film 2010 Human Target Pete Episode: "Ilsa Pucci" 2011 Mortal Kombat: Legacy Lt. Kurtis Stryker Episode: "Jax, Sonya and Kano" 2011–2012 The Killing Gregory "Greg" Casher (formerly Linden) 2 episodes 2011 Jabberwock Francis Television film 2011 Haven Simon Crocker Episode: "Sins of the Fathers" 2011 Innocent Jimmy Brand Television film 2012 Castle Cole Maddox 2 episodes 2012–2013 Continuum Jim Martin 5 episodes 2012 Fairly Legal Mark Ellison Episode: "Bait & Switch" 2012 Arrow Nick Salvati Episode: "Muse of Fire" 2013 Bomb Girls Clifford 5 episodes 2013–2014 Supernatural Gadreel 6 episodes 2014 Star-Crossed SEU Officer Jack Beaumont 2 episodes 2014 Criminal Minds Michael Hastings Episode: "200" 2014 Reign John Prevo Episode: Higher Ground 2014 Strange Empire Marshall Mercredi Recurring role (8 episodes) 2015 Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles Steve Trevor Voice, episode: "Big" 2015 Angel of Christmas Derek Television film 2015 Riftworld Chronicles Alar Web series 2016 Real Detective "Malice" Detective C.W. Jensen TV series (1 episode) 2016 Con Man Randy Lane Web seriesEpisode: "A Small Step for Manly" 2017 Incorporated Goran TV series 2018 Altered Carbon Dimitri Kadmin 2 episodes 2019 BH90210 Jack Carlisle 2 episodes 2021 Hudson & Rex Leon Barrett Episode: "Rex Marks the Spot" 2022 Devil in Ohio Malachi Dodd Netflix series 2022 Fire Country Superintendent Paul Knox Episode: "My Kinda Leader" 2024 The Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story Ed Finley Television film 2025 Tracker FBI Agent Moss Episode: "Rules of the Game" 2026 Carrie Ralph White Post-production

+Video games Year Title Role Notes 2006 Need for Speed: Carbon Darius Voice and likeness