Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American

military science fiction Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction and military fiction that depicts the use of science fiction technology, including spaceships and science fiction weapons, weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters ...

television series ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...

,'' ''

Stargate Atlantis ''Stargate Atlantis'' (usually stylized in all caps and often abbreviated ''SGA'') is an Adventure film, adventure and military science fiction television series and part of MGM's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show was created by Brad W ...

,'' and '' Stargate Universe.'' She also starred as Helen Magnus in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

television series ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Tapping moved with her family to

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, when she was one year old. She attended

North Toronto Collegiate Institute North Toronto Collegiate Institute is a semestered, public high school institution with over 1,200 students located in North Toronto area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is operated and governed by the Toronto District School Board. Fro ...

, 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 The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

School of Dramatic Arts in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

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 '' The Outer Limits'' and ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...

''. 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 ''

'', which debuted in 1997. After ''SG-1'' aired its final episode, Tapping reprised the role of Samantha Carter on ''

'' as the new commander of the Atlantis expedition. In season 5, Tapping's role on the show was reduced to that of "special guest-star" with only occasional appearances because she chose to focus her attention on the development of a new series for Syfy called ''

''. The show expanded on an original series of eight

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cab ...

s released on the internet in 2007. The bulk of the scenery and characters were entirely

green screen Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues ( chroma range). The technique has been used in many fie ...

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 Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

''. 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 The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has over 30,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. Th ...

's 2015 Woman of the Year.

Directing

Tapping's directing debut was during the seventh season of ''

'' on an episode titled "

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

", written by co-star

Michael Shanks Michael Garrett Shanks (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Daniel Jackson in the long-running military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1'' and as Dr Charles Harris in the Canadian medi ...

. She also directed the ''

'' 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 In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

'', ''

Van Helsing Professor Abraham Van Helsing () is a fictional character from the 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula'' written by Bram Stoker. Van Helsing is a Dutch polymath doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the P ...

'', '' The Magicians,'' and ''

,'' as well as the historical drama '' X Company.'' She also directed five episodes of the Netflix series '' Travelers'' and the season finale of the 2017 series ''

Anne with an E ''Anne with an E'' (initially titled ''Anne'' for its first season within Canada) is a Canadian period drama television series loosely adapted from Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 classic work of children's literature, '' Anne of Green Gables''. It ...

''. 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 Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia. Tapping has one daughter with Kovacs. Tapping has openly shared the difficult experiences she has undergone through eight

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

s during her marriage in hope that her story would help other miscarrying women feel less isolated. Tapping has two living brothers, Richard and Christopher. A third brother Steven, who suffered from

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

and often uncontrollable seizures, died in December 2006 of causes unreleased by the Tapping family.

Filmography

Film

Television

Director

Theatre

*'' The Wizard of Oz'' *''The Lion in Winter'' as "Alais Capet" *''

Steel Magnolias ''Steel Magnolias'' is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Herbert Ross and starring Sally Field, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, and Julia Roberts. The screenplay by Robert Harling is based on hi ...

'' – West End Theater *''Look Back in Anger'' as "Alison" (1986) *''Children of a Lesser God'' as "Sarah" (1987) *''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'' as "Bianca" (1988) *''Noises Off'' *''The Shadow Walkers''

Awards and nominations

Tapping has won 6 awards, out of 13 nominations.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapping, Amanda 1965 births 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses 20th-century British actresses 21st-century British actresses Actresses from Essex Actresses from Toronto Canadian stage actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian television directors English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English television directors English emigrants to Canada Canadian women television directors Living people Actors from Rochford University of Windsor alumni Canadian twins English twins 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Canadian Comedy Award winners