Another quiet day in terms of Tricia news. However, Entertainment Weekly has a really great preview of the upcoming second season of USA Network’s spy series Burn Notice, in which Tricia will have a recurring role as the mysterious Carla. The article is particularly useful for those who are not yet familiar with the show, and those who need no introduction to the series might want to skip to the Tricia-part of the interview, which includes interview excerpts as well as a more detailed description of Carla and her position in the story. From EW.com:

That doesn’t mean Nix doesn’t feel pressure to keep Burn Notice red-hot, and to that end the series will introduce a new character this season: a mysterious spy played by Tricia Helfer, best known as Battlestar Galactica’s slithery Cylon Number Six. ”I had coffee with her yesterday; it was ridiculously exciting,” says Nix with a laugh. ”She plays Carla, the public face of the folks that burned Michael. It was made clear at the end of last season that Michael is being recruited into something, that people have plans for him, and she’s the one who delivers those plans. And it puts him in this interesting relationship, which is, in order to find out more about who burned him, he has to play along to find out what they’re doing, and get some leverage with Carla, to get off the blacklist. It’s a fun tension — he has to play nice, but not too nice.”

As for the 34-year-old Helfer, as much as she loves Battlestar, she also appreciates working in a more earthly environment. ”I’m still finishing up work on Battlestar Galactica,” she says, ”and any offers I’ve been getting for jobs after that have been, as you can imagine, very sci-fi, and I don’t want to get pigeonholed in that genre, as well as knowing that I’ll probably never get sci-fi material as good as Battlestar. I’m a fan of Burn Notice, and I also know I’ll probably never get offered a role in a thriller that’s as smart and funny as this.”

Sounds like my kind of series! Don’t forget to tune into the season premiere on July 10 at 10/9c. We here at Tricia Helfer Fan will of course be sure to do our best to cover it. Stay tuned!

The winners of the 34th Annual Saturn Awards have been announced, and unfortunately Battlestar Galactica is not among them. The series was nominated for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series, Best Presentation on Television (for Battlestar Galactica: Razor) and Best Actor in a Television Series (for Edward James Olmos). The awards, however, went to Dexter, Family Guy: Blue Harvest and Matthew Fox (Lost) respectively.

Don’t forget to vote Tricia and Battlestar Galactica to victory at the 2008 SyFy Genre Awards! Voting is ongoing at the SyFy Portal — you can vote once a day per email address until July 25, 2008. Battlestar Galactica recently hauled in an impressive 11 nominations, including a Best Supporting Actress nom for Tricia. Go vote now!

There’s been a lot going on with Tricia of late, hasn’t there? There’s more; here’s today’s last, Burn Notice-oriented update.

Maureen Ryan of The Chicago Tribune recently sat down with Burn Notice creator Matt Nix to discuss the series second season, and naturally, Tricia’s involvement came up in the discussion. According to the article, Tricia will appear in multiple episodes of the season, including 2.01 and 2.02. From ChicagoTribune.com:

This season, Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer has a recurring role as Carla, a representative of the person or people who “burned” Michael. She’s in the first two episodes of Season 2 and her character will return just before the mid-season finale arrives (USA is airing nine episodes of Burn Notice this summer). Helfer will also appear in some of the seven Season 2 episodes that will air in 2009.

Maureen Ryan: Not to change subjects, but how did you become aware of Tricia Helfer [who plays Michael’s mysterious “handler,” Carla, this season]?

Matt Nix: We were all aware of her from Battlestar and we adored her from Battlestar. We were racking our brains trying to figure out who would be Carla, and co-executive producer Alfredo Barrios saw in the Hollywood Reporter that she’d just signed a deal with Fox, and he ran in and said, “She’s perfect!” And I was like, “Yes, that’s it!” But she had just signed a deal with another network. I thought it would never work, but then it did [in part because Burn Notice is made by Fox’s TV studio].

She just kind of got the show immediately and she has that kind of attitude, she talks the right way, and everyone was just immediately comfortable. And we’re just fans of other shows, it’s not an accident we’ve got a Battlestar person [the show also had Battlestar's Lucy Lawless as a guest last season] and we’ve cast a few people from Dexter on our show.

Furthermore, for those interested in the series, TV Squad recently visited the series’ production on set in Miami. The article doesn’t contain anything Tricia-specific that we haven’t heard before, but you might want to have a look nonetheless.

Finally, in other news, voting for the 2008 SyFy Genre Awards has begun at SyFyPortal.com. You have 30 days to vote Tricia and Battlestar Galactica to victory. Vote now!

Some of you will surely remember how some months back we reported that Tricia had signed a talent holding deal with Fox. Well, it would seem the deal is about to produce some results, as according to The Hollywood Reporter Tricia will co-star in Fox’s drama pilot Inseparable. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Tricia Helfer has been tapped to co-star on Fox’s drama pilot Inseparable — . Inseparable, from ABC Studios and writer/exec producer Shaun Cassidy, is a modern-day Jekyll and Hyde tale about Justin/Clyde (Lloyd Owen), a partially paralyzed forensic psychiatrist with a split personality whose alter ego is a charismatic criminal.

Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) will play Mason Wicks, a psychiatrist who evaluates suspects for the police department. The casting stems from the talent holding deal Helfer inked with Fox in April. Also cast in the pilot is Morgan Turner as Justin’s daughter Emily.

That’s great news! Congratulations on the pilot, Tricia!

Sci Fi Channel’s critically acclaimed drama series Battlestar Galactica has earned an astonishing 11 nominations at this year’s Syfy Genre Awards! What’s more, Tricia is among those nominated, as she is up for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Cylon Number Six in the series! How awesome is that? Here are the categories the series is nominated in, from SyFyPortal.com:

• Best Actor (Television): Edward James Olmos
• Best Actress (Television): Mary McDonnell
• Best Episode (Television): Episode 4.01 “He That Believeth In Me”
• Best Episode (Television): Episode 4.06 “Faith”
• Best Guest Star (Television): Michelle Forbes, for BSG: Razor
• Best Series (Television)
• Best Supporting Actor (Television): Aaron Douglas
• Best Supporting Actor (Television): James Callis
• Best Supporting Actor (Television): Michael Hogan
• Best Supporting Actress (Television): Katee Sackhoff
• Best Supporting Actress (Television): Tricia Helfer

Whoa! Congratulations to the entire Battlestar Galactica team for the well deserved noms! For more on the competition the series is facing in the various categories, visit SyFyPortal.com.

Voting begins June 25 (that’s tomorrow!) at SyFyPortal.com. Readers can vote once per day for 30 days between June 25 and July 25, and winners will be announced during SyFy Portal’s 10th anniversary celebration ca. August 13. Don’t forget to vote for Tricia!

I have some more movie screen caps for you today! I’ve just uploaded ca. 100 medium-res screen captures of a beautiful Tricia as Sasha in Joel David Moore’s thriller Spiral (2007), co-starring Moore, Amber Tamblyn and Zachary Levi. Unfortunately for us, Tricia’s role in the movie is rather small; you have to wait for her appearance for over an hour, and even then she only gets a few minutes of onscreen time.

Personally, I quite liked the film. Spiral is a fresh and almost personal approach to a thriller with great performances by the main cast, including Tricia; despite the role of Sasha being rather small, Tricia once again delivers a genuine and believable performance. I’d check it out if I were you!

New Photo Albums:

• ‘Spiral’ (2007) Movie Screen Captures

Galactica Sitrep reports Battlestar Galactica will be present at this year’s San Diego Comic Con in July. From Galactica Sitrep:

This morning Seat42F started to reveal a bunch of panel days and times. After a full day of source-prodding, the Watch With Kristin grrls have a whole bunch more, including stuff we care about here at Sitrep. Although they take pains to point out this is all “totally unofficial, unauthorized and subject to change (especially if there is an actors’ strike),” this is what they’ve announced:

Saturday, July 26
2:15–3:15 p.m.: Battlestar Galactica panel

Please note, however, that all 4-day and Saturday tickets have been sold out (rather unsurprisingly), so if you’re out late, you’re also out of luck.

Promotion for USA Network’s spy series Burn Notice Season 2 is definitely gearing up! The series official site at USANetwork.com has been updated with new information and media on Tricia as Carla, which is definitely worth a look. Here’s Carla’s character profile, courtesy of USANetwork.com:

“Michael, we’re so looking forward to meeting you,” a woman with a smoky voice says as Michael drives into the back of a container truck. Now, that smoky voice has a name… Carla. Or at least that’s what Michael calls her until he can find who she really is…

Her background is a mystery, her motives are unclear, and Michael’s not even sure who she works for. All he knows is that she’s a lethal combination of brains and beauty. Carla is Michael’s only link to the people that burned him, and if Michael ever hopes to get his life back… he needs to find out more about her.

Sounds interesting, no? The site was also updated with new medium-res photos of Tricia as Carla, five of which have been added to the gallery. Enjoy!

New & Updated Photo Albums:

• ‘Burn Notice’ Episode 2.02 “Turn and Burn” Promotional Stills
• ‘Burn Notice’ Season 2 Promotional Footage

At last, we get a good quality look at Tricia as Carla in USA Network’s spy series Burn Notice, Season 2 of which premieres on July 10 at 10/9c. I’ve just uploaded 2 fabulous hi-res promotional stills of Tricia in episode 2.02 “Turn and Burn” — and Tricia looks absolutely fantastic!

New Photo Albums:

• ‘Burn Notice’ Episode 2.02 “Turn and Burn” Promotional Stills