When Burn Notice premiered on July 10, ex-super spy Michael Westen got a visit from a Cylon. Okay, not really. However, he did meet a spy named Carla played by Tricia Helfer, who is best known as Number Six on the popular sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica.

Helfer is on board for seven episodes of Burn Notice over the course of the second season. "It’s always daunting going into a show as a guest in a guest role, but with Burn Notice, I honestly can say how wonderful they were and how welcoming they were to me."

The warm welcome may have helped her feel comfortable on set, but it didn’t get her any hints when it came to her mysterious character. "To be completely honest, I really don’t know much of Carla’s back story. Just as she’s mysterious to Michael, she’s also mysterious to the audience, and I think we’ll learn more about her as Michael does and the audience does. At this point, I’ve only filmed the first few episodes, so I have yet to discover a lot about Carla myself."

After filming two episodes and recording a few phone calls, all Helfer knows is that Carla is a spy in a leadership position at the organization that is burning the show’s main character, Michael (played by Jeffery Donovan).

"It has a different elite take and I find it fresh, fun, and exciting; and you have absolutely no qualms that Michael can do what he does and you would completely trust yourself in Michael’s hands, but, at the same time, there’s a humor and a tone to the show that is just really fun and fresh. You’ll see this spy tripping going up the stairs. That kind of thing I think is just really fun, so for me it was important to try and find a project that broadens my range and people’s perception of me."

In order to change the audience’s perception of her, Helfer nervously worked on fitting into her new role. "You want to make sure you find the right tone and that was definitely one thing that I was concerned about going down, and that’s one place that Jeffrey really was great, because after our first take in the first scene, he’s like 'You have the tone. You nailed the tone. That’s exactly our show. Now let’s play.'"

Helfer’s also been able to sit back and enjoy herself on set, which can be difficult with the subject matter Battlestar Galactica focuses on. "When you’re talking about the annihilation of the human race, or suicide bombings, or that kind of thing, it can be really heavy on set. So I’m enjoying the lightness and the levity of Burn Notice and just having a lot of fun with that."

As entrenched as she’s become in Burn Notice, she never actually saw the show before she got her part. Working a hectic schedule on one of the most popular sci-fi television shows in history doesn’t leave much time for her to lounge in front of the television, after all!

“It was one of those that was on my list of DVD box sets to buy,” she explained. “I had been definitely intrigued by commercials I had seen, but I’m definitely a DVD box set kind of watcher, because of so much of the traveling that I do, it’s hard to commit to a show when it airs. When I was offered the part, they sent me the DVDs and I was immediately hooked from the first episode.”

Battlestar Galactica has been Helfer’s bread and butter for the last four years. However, the show will be coming to an end after this season. And while one would assume Helfer would play the sharp-witted spy Carla in order to have a completely different role fleshed out, she claims that Carla really isn’t much different than her Battlestar persona, Number Six.

"Actually, they’re more similar than you would imagine with one of the characters being a robot,” she said. “I hadn’t actually thought about it, but somebody pointed it out to me that both characters, I’m kind of going in with blinders on, so to speak. I don’t really know much about her at all really, and that was sort of the same with my Number Six character."

And no, Tricia Helfer is not really a robot, though her schedule might suggest otherwise.

"I literally flew down, shot out two episodes, and then flew back up to Battlestar, so it was conveniently worked out and I pick back up on Burn Notice mid-July (like now), a few days after we wrap on Battlestar."

After finishing her stint on Burn Notice, Helfer will go straight to filming the new Fox series Inseparable, about a man who develops dual personalities.

"He’s a cop and my character is the cop psychologist that evaluates him, and has evaluated him prior to his injury. He was shot and now he’s in a wheelchair. One side of his body he doesn’t really have control over. He can walk on crutches, but barely, and his alter ego is completely healed."

All that working and traveling should have her saying “frack” (the classic curse word of the future, courtesy of Battlestar,) right?

“To be completely honest, I tend to use the real counterpart a bit too much (the other F-word), and have used it all my life,” she admits. “I should start using it (frack) more instead of the other, but not as much. I think other people actually say it on set more, because Number Six has never really said it that much."

After leaving the modeling industry to focus on acting in 2002, Helfer said she is completely dedicated to acting nowadays. Though she could get back into modeling at any time, she’s just not interested.

“I did foray into it with Canada’s Next Top Model, but to be completely honest, model reality shows are not like modeling in real life. They’re certainly not like the modeling business. It’s about making a good TV show.”

It seems like Tricia Helfer will be making good TV shows for years to come… minus the reality (hopefully).

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rachel   |2008-07-24 09:55:34 I like her in this series. She is great in BSG as well. I just don;t like the bleach blonde hair she has in it. It doesn't suit her. Reply 0   0

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