Amanda Tapping (photo ©Jill Bratcher) was born on August 28, 1965 in Rochford, Essex, England. When she was three years old her family moved to Ontario, Canada, where she studied environmental science and drama at North Toronto Collegiate Institute. Since her childhood she wanted to be an actress so later she went to study at the University of Windsor School of Dramatic Arts in Windsor, Ontario.

Initially, Amanda Tapping worked extensively in stage productions. She didn’t want to do television but started appearing in several commercials and since the beginning, her roles were much more on television than in cinema. For that reason, in the ’90s she ended up building a television career.

The event that changed Amanda Tapping’s career was when she got the role of Samantha Carter on the TV show “Stargate SG-1”, which began in 1997. In the course of the show, she also started being a director with the seventh season episode “Resurrection”. The character was part of the whole series, which lasted for 10 seasons, but also appeared in the subsequent TV movies “Stargate: The Ark of Truth” and “Stargate: Continuum” (2008), in 19 episodes of the show “Stargate Atlantis” and in two episodes of the show “Stargate Universe”.

While she was still working on “Stargate SG-1”, Amanda Tapping started developing another project, “Sanctuary”. In 2007 8 webisodes were put online and after their success the channel Syfy decided to buy the television rights. The project became a regular series that ran for four seasons from 2007 with Amanda Tapping as executive producer, starring as Helen Magnus and occasionally a director.

After the end of “Sanctuary”, Amanda Tapping continued especially her career as a director working in various TV shows. Now linked to the world of science fiction, she directed episodes of “Primeval: New World”, “Continuum”, “Dark Matter” and “Olympus” will soon begin, of which she has so far directed four episodes.

Amanda Tapping has also kept on acting, especially with a recurring role in the eighth season of “Supernatural”. Throughout the years she received some Leo Awards, a British Columbia award, and a Saturn Award, presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, for her performances. Those who appreciated her as an actress can still see her in the future, especially in science fiction productions. Not accidentally, her fans nicknamed her the “Great Empress of Sci Fi”.

Amanda Tapping consider herself also a wife and a mother being married to Allan Kovacs and having with him a daughter, Olivia. She also considers herself an activist and supports various charities. Among other things, she’s a UNICEF’s spokesperson. For her efforts she received various awards.