Leah Cairns (born June 2, 1974) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmondson in ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...

'' and as Kathryn McLaren in the TV series " Travelers."

Early life

Cairns was born in North Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, and grew up in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

. Dreams of becoming a professional dancer were dashed when she broke her back in a car accident at 16. When her dance team went to an international competition in her graduating year, rather than sit at home, she decided to visit Costa Rica and then began a backpacking trek that took her to 36 countries and took eight years. Before returning to Canada, she took an improvisation class at an

ashram An ashram ( sa, आश्रम, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or a ...

in India.

Career

Cairns appeared in ''

Robson Arms ''Robson Arms'' is a Canadian television series that began airing on CTV on June 17, 2005 and ended on June 30, 2008. ''Robson Arms'' is a co-production between Vancouver-based Omni Film Productions Limited and Halifax's Creative Atlantic Commu ...

'' before winning a recurring role as Jenna in ''

Godiva's ''Godiva's'' is a Canadian television comedy-drama series created by Michael MacLennan with Julia Keatley of Keatley Entertainment. It debuted on Bravo! and Citytv in 2005 and was celebrated for its intelligent, fast-paced depiction of young C ...

'', for which she received a

Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

nomination in 2006 for Best Supporting Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series. Joining the ''Battlestar'' cast as Raptor pilot/ECO Racetrack at the end of season one, her performance impressed showrunners and Racetrack became a recurring character for the rest of the show. During BSG's season three Cairns also played Emily Hollander on the ABC Family series ''

Kyle XY ''Kyle XY'' is an American science fiction television series produced by ABC Family. The central character is a teenage boy (Matt Dallas) who awakens naked in a forest outside Seattle, Washington, with no more knowledge or abilities than a newb ...

'' and appeared in ''

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 saf ...

''. On the silver screen, she appeared in ''

88 Minutes ''88 Minutes'' is a 2007 thriller film directed by Jon Avnet and starring Al Pacino, Alicia Witt, Leelee Sobieski, William Forsythe, Deborah Kara Unger, Amy Brenneman, Neal McDonough and Benjamin McKenzie. In the film, famed forensic psychiatr ...

'' and played Lois in '' Interstellar''. In 2018, she co-starred in the film ''Diminuendo'' opposite Richard Hatch, her friend from the BSG reboot. Cairns had a recurring role as Kathryn "Kat" MacLaren for the 3 seasons (2016–2018) of the series '' Travelers''.

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

* * 1974 births Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people People from Kamloops People from North Vancouver Actresses from Vancouver 21st-century Canadian actresses {{Canada-tv-actor-stub