Tahmoh Penikett

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Tahmoh Penikett
Penikett at Gatecon
Born	May 20, 1975 (1975-05-20) (age 34) Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

Tahmoh Penikett (pronounced [ˈtaʔmo ˈpɛnɨkɨt];^[1] born May 20, 1975 in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada) is a Canadian actor best known for his role as Karl "Helo" Agathon on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.

He also co-stars as Paul Ballard in Joss Whedon's series Dollhouse on the Fox network as of the spring of 2009.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Battlestar Galactica 3 Other roles 4 Personal life 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Early years

Penikett is the son of former Yukon premier Tony Penikett, who is of British ancestry, and Lulla Sierra Johns, of the White River First Nation in the Yukon. He has two siblings, twin sisters Sarah and Stephanie. He graduated from the Victoria Motion Picture School and studied at the Lyric School of Acting in Vancouver.

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 episode "Resurrection" in Season 3, and in the Season 6 episodes "Nemesis" and "Prototype". He portrayed a police officer for a predominantly gay neighborhood in the 2004 The L Word episode "Losing It", which coincidentally starred Battlestar Galactica co-star Nicki Clyne in a related storyline.

[edit] Battlestar Galactica

In 2003, the 1978 science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica was "reimagined" as a three hour miniseries on the SciFi Channel. The miniseries was filmed in Vancouver, 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 Battlestar Galactica series was commissioned.

The role was not based on a character in the original series, and was meant to be confined only to the miniseries; in the miniseries Helo is shown giving up a spot on a spaceship fleeing the doomed planet of Caprica, with the implication that he was left to die. 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 a recurring character on the show. A plot that took place over much of the show's first season was that the Cylons on Caprica kept Helo alive in order to have him fall in love with, and impregnate, a Cylon (Helo was chosen because his crew partner, Sharon Valerii, was in fact a Cylon, and another copy of the same model was sent to pretend to be her). By the second season, his character had returned to the Galactica; as the father of the only successful human-Cylon hybrid; this character and his family became central to the show's mythology.

[edit] Other roles

He appeared in the video game Need for Speed: Carbon, as a street racer named Darius.

He played a leading role as Noah Hamilton in the 2005 made-for-TV film Hush alongside actress Tori Spelling.

Aside from his role as Helo on Battlestar Galactica, Penikett's largest recurring television role has been that of Detective Ray Chase, who appeared in eleven episodes of the Canadian police drama, Cold Squad.

He also appeared in four episodes of the television series Whistler as "difficult artist" Elias Noth.

He had a brief appearance as one of the first Human-Form Replicators in the season 6 episode of Stargate SG-1, "Unnatural Selection".

Additionally, Penikett has been featured in three episodes of Smallville. He starred as Wes Keenan in two season six episodes, "Nemesis" and "Prototype," and also in the third season episode, "Resurrection," as a different character.

Penikett co-stars as FBI agent Paul Ballard in the Joss Whedon series, Dollhouse.^[2][3]

Penikett is also currently providing voice talent for antagonist Troy Hammerschmidt on the Adult Swim show Titan Maximum.

Penikett has been cast on Sci Fi's four-hour TV adaptation of Riverworld in the lead role of Matt Ellman.^[4]

[edit] Personal life

Penikett currently lives in Vancouver, as do his father and sisters.

In support of the Babz Chula Lifeline for Artists Society, which is raising money for their friend and fellow Canadian actor Chula's cancer treatment, Penikett and his Battlestar Galactica colleague Kandyse McClure auctioned off the opportunity to have dinner with both of them in Vancouver in April 2008.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tahmoh Penikett

• Tahmoh Penikett at the Internet Movie Database
• Tahmoh Penikett at TV Guide

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