Rukiya Bernard (born January 20, 1983) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actress, producer and interior designer. She is known for her role as Doc in Syfy's '' Van Helsing'','' The Cabin in the Woods'' (2012), ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (2008) and ''Stuck'' (2007).

Early life

Rukiya Bernard was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, to Nyakiringa Magugu, an African art store owner, and Gilbert Bernard, a car wash owner. From a very young age, Rukiya’s parents immersed her in sport and art programming. She took part in basketball and track while studying classical ballet, karate and piano. She was accepted into Ryerson University’s theatre program from which she graduated with honours.

Career

Rukiya's first job was the supporting role of Sophie Newman in Ernest Dickerson’s award-winning '' Our America'' opposite Josh Charles, Irma P. Hall and Mykelti Williamson. Rukiya has appeared in TV shows including SyFy's '' Van Helsing'',

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

’s ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'', A&E’s ''The Returned'',

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Mad ...

’s '' Fairly Legal'', Hallmark’s ''The Gourmet Detective'', NBC’s '' Eureka'',

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global ...

’s ''The L Word'', SyFy’s ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a s ...

'' and ''SGU Stargate Universe'',

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ...

’s '' Intruders'' and

Lifetime Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

’s ''Witches Of The East End''. She has also appeared in '' The Cabin In The Woods'', ''Stuck'' and ''That Burning Feeling''.

Interior design

Rukiya is an interior designer and starred on

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, ...

’s reality TV show '' The Stagers'' for two seasons.

Personal life

Rukiya is married to

P. J. Prinsloo Peter John "P. J." Prinsloo (born 6 February 1978) is a South African actor. He has had recurring roles on '' Edgemont'' as Chris Laidlaw and on ''Battlestar Galactica'' as Lt. Mei 'Freaker' Firelli. Prinsloo has been a social justice youth faci ...

, they have two children.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Rukiya Bernard
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Rukiya 1983 births Living people Actresses from Toronto Canadian television actresses Canadian people of Nigerian descent Black Canadian actresses Canadian interior designers