# David Nykl

David Nykl (born 7 February 1967) is a Czech-Canadian actor of film, television, commercials and theater. He is best known for portraying Dr. Radek Zelenka in the SyFy television series Stargate Atlantis and Anatoly Knyazev in the DC Comics series Arrow.

## Early life and education

Nykl was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to a nurse mother and a structural engineer father. After the Soviet invasion in 1968, he and his family left then-Communist Czechoslovakia for Canada. Upon arriving at Victoria, British Columbia, Nykl briefly attended the University of British Columbia, where he majored in liberal arts and marketing, but did not graduate.

## Career

Nykl has appeared frequently in Vancouver and Prague in dozens of theater, film and television productions. Known for his versatility and depth as an actor, he has also produced theatre and film projects, and in 1994, he co-founded Prague's Misery Loves Company Theatre with Richard Toth and Ewan McLaren.
Nykl is known to science fiction fans as the recurring Stargate Atlantis character of Dr. Radek Zelenka, a Czech scientist on Earth's expedition to the "lost city" of Atlantis. His character is often seen working with the main scientist Dr. Rodney McKay, with their disagreements recurring throughout the series. He also played the role in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Pegasus Project".
Nykl is fluent in Czech, English, French and Spanish. Though his character on Stargate Atlantis speaks English with a Czech accent, Nykl normally speaks with a Canadian accent. Whenever Zelenka spoke Czech in Stargate Atlantis, Nykl was given the lines in English, and he translated them.
In 2012 he made a brief guest appearance on "Once Upon A Time" as dock man turned fish by evil Cora.

## Personal life

He has three children: daughters Judi and Maddie, and son Sam.

## Filmography

Actor :
| Year | Title | Media | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | Danger Bay | TV series | Peter | |
| 1993 | Strangeview | Feature | Trucker's Friend | |
| 1993 | David | Feature | Bob | |
| 1995 | Sacred Cargo | Feature | Brother Alexis | |
| 1996 | Hidden in Silence | TV movie | Henek | |
| 1996 | 5 Stunden Angst – Geiselnahme im Kindergarten | Feature | "Drops" | |
| 1996 | Crackerjack 2 | Feature | Cavanaugh | |
| 1997 | Snow White: A Tale of Terror | Feature | Unknown | |
| 1998 | Prague Duet | Feature | The Journalist | |
| 1998 | The Barber of Siberia | Feature | Unknown | |
| 1998 | Operation Noah | TV movie | PR Man | |
| 1998 | Act of War | Feature | George Willmont | |
| 1998 | Ceská soda | Feature | Unknown | |
| 1998 | Blumenstein Fernand – bláznuv príbeh | Feature | voice | |
| 1998 | Hell Mountain | Feature | First Corridor Guard | |
| 1998 | Escape Velocity | Feature | Father Russell | |
| 1998 | Pat & Mat | TV series | Pat | 1 episode – "Playing Cards" |
| 1999 | Loves Lies Bleeding | Feature | Fraser | |
| 1999 | Joan of Arc | TV series | Duke of Luxembourg | |
| 1999 | Praha ocima Prague Stories | Feature | Honza | |
| 2000 | Jack London's Call of the Wild | TV series | Settler | |
| 2000 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | TV series | Robespierre's Barber | |
| 2001 | Bécka | Feature | Unknown | |
| 2001 | Seven Days | TV series | Yuri | |
| 2002 | The Dead Zone | TV series | The Waiter | |
| 2002 | My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star | TV series | Dancing Potato | |
| 2003 | Jake 2.0 | TV series | Vasily | |
| 2003 | Stealing Sinatra | TV movie | The Valet | |
| 2004 | Spare Change | Short film | Joel | |
| 2004–2009 | Stargate: Atlantis | TV series | Dr. Radek Zelenka | recurring, 55 episodes |
| 2005 | Masters of Horror | TV series | CSI | |
| 2005 | Pterodactyl | Feature film | Herbert | |
| 2005 | Behind the Camera: Mork & Mindy | TV movie | John Byner | |
| 2005 | Cold Squad | TV series | Bernhardt | |
| 2006 | Psych | TV series | Events Coordinator in "Shawn vs. the Red Phantom" | |
| 2006 | Stargate SG-1 | TV series | Dr. Radek Zelenka | 1 episode – "The Pegasus Project" |
| 2006 | Merlin's Apprentice | TV series | Brianna's Father | |
| 2007 | Eureka | TV series | Dr. Steven Whiticus | |
| 2008 | Sanctuary | TV series | Strickland | |
| 2008 | The Beast of Bottomless Lake | Feature | Unknown | |
| 2008 | The Seamstress | Feature film | Donny Platt | |
| 2009 | Encounter with Danger | TV movie | Elliott Maine | |
| 2009 | Helen | TV series | John | |
| 2010 | Fringe | TV series | Reverend Marcus | |
| 2010 | Human Target | TV series | Vincent Morgan | |
| 2012 | Christmas Miracle | Film | Drake | |
| 2012 | Camera Shy | Film | Cliff Gardner | |
| 2013 | Once Upon A Time | TV series | Man on dock | 1 episode – "The Cricket Game" |
| 2013–2020 | Arrow | TV series | Anatoli Knyazev | recurring |
| 2014 | Supernatural | TV series | Lester Morris | |
| 2015 | Air | Film | Sleeper 1 | |
| 2018 | Salvation | TV series | Czech Rep | 1 episode – "Détente" |
| 2019 | Superior Donuts | Play | Arthur | |
| 2019 | The Sleepers (Bez vedomí) | TV series | Gerald Lloyd | |