'Sanctuary' - Cast and Characters

Sci-fi veteran Amanda Tapping (Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis) stars as Dr. Helen Magnus, the observer -- and sometimes captor -- of the abnormal creatures of the world most dismiss as wild stories and fevered imaginings. Thanks to an introduction to the work of her brilliant father at an early age, Magnus knows the truth: the world is teeming with nature's mistakes and triumphs. Now as head of the Sanctuary, she seeks to learn from this extraordinary diversity of the strange and the paranormal while shielding those that need her protection. Brave and proper, she's far older than she looks.

Will is a brilliant forensic psychiatrist whose fascination with otherworldly explanations for horrific crimes cost him his job with federal authorities and his reputation. His unwillingness to except mundane explanations for the extraordinary attracts the attention of Dr. Helen Magnus, who invites him to join her team and her world -- a world that for him, unlike most people, is clear and plausible. Dunne is an actor/writer, and in the latter capacity created the Roxy Hunter book and film franchise.

Helen Magnus's daughter is a hard-edged monster-hunter, a fearless and skilled fighter whose mission is to protect her team from the most dangerous of the abnormal creatures they face. Having lived her life in her mother's world, Ashley accepts and expects the impossible and has deep respect for her family's work. Danish actor Ullerup has appeared on Battlestar Galactica and received plaudits for her role on jPod.

John Druitt is himself a sort of "abnormal" -- he can disappear and appear in a flash, and much about him is a mystery -- even to Helen, who knows him from an earlier period in her long life. His sudden reappearance shakes even the unflappable Dr. Magnus. Christopher Heyerdahl is another sci-fi veteran, having most recently played Todd the Wraith and other characters on Stargate Atlantis and Zor-El on Smallville.

Smart-mouthed and brilliant computer expert Henry Foss supplies the "cool geek" factor at the Sanctuary, working for Helen as technical adviser and weapons designer. His enthusiasm for his work keeps Sanctuary safe for its human and paranormal inmates -- and the outside world safe from the Sanctuary. Henry, too, has his own secrets. Robbins was Charlie Connor on Battlestar Galactica and was also in jPod with Emilie Ullerup, but might be most recognizable as the Genii leader Ladon Radim from Stargate Atlantis.