In 1992, Tricia Helfer won Ford Models’ Supermodel of the World Contest and was subsequently signed to the Elite Model Management and is currently signed with Trump Model Management. She has appeared in ad campaigns, including Ralph Lauren, Chanel, and Giorgio Armani. Helfer has walked for top fashion shows such as Carolina Herrera, Christian Dior, Claude Montana, Givenchy, John Galliano, and Dolce & Gabbana. Helfer has graced the covers of Flare, Amica, ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Vogue, among others. She has also posed topless for the February 2007 issue of Playboy.

She played the role of a model, Ashleigh James, in the May 16, 2002 episode “The Hunger Artist” on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In 2002, Helfer played the female lead, Eva, in the independent film White Rush. In 2003, Helfer was chosen to play Number Six, the Cylon agent in the Sci Fi channel miniseries Battlestar Galactica (2003). The miniseries, which was a remake of the 1970s series Battlestar Galactica, was a huge ratings success, due in part to the visually attractive mind games between Number Six and scientist Dr. Gaius Baltar. It has now become a television series in which Helfer is a main cast member; the series is currently in its third season.