Gina Bellman
Gina Bellman (born 10 July 1966)[1] is a New Zealand-born British actress best known for her performances as grifter Sophie Devereaux on the 2008 to 2012 TNT television series Leverage and in the revival Leverage: Redemption when the series moved to Amazon Freevee in 2021 and Jane Christie on the 2000 to 2004 BBC comedy show Coupling.
Gina Bellman | |
|---|---|
Bellman in 2023 | |
| Born | 1966 (age 57–58) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouses | Lucho Brieva (m. 2005; div. 2007)Zaab Sethna (m. 2013) |
| Children | 1 |
Early life edit
Bellman was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to Jewish parents of Russian and Polish descent[2] who emigrated to New Zealand from England in the 1950s. Her family returned to the United Kingdom when she was 11 years old.[2] She was educated at Rosh Pinah Primary School and JFS in London.[3]
Career edit
After making her television acting debut in an episode of Into the Labyrinth in 1982, and a two-episode stint in Grange Hill in 1984, she became a household name for her performance in the title role in Dennis Potter's drama Blackeyes. She is also well known for playing Jane in the sitcom Coupling. Her other TV roles include Waking the Dead, Jonathan Creek, Little Napoleons, and one-off appearances in Only Fools and Horses and Hotel Babylon.
She has also appeared in several feature films including King David (1985), which starred Richard Gere and Edward Woodward, Secret Friends (1991), Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), and Silent Trigger (1996) opposite Dolph Lundgren.
She co-starred alongside James Nesbitt in the 2007 BBC One drama serial Jekyll, a modern-day sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, written by Coupling author Steven Moffat.[4]
In 2008, she began appearing on the TNT channel's serial drama Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton, for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in Television, but lost to Lucy Lawless.[5][6]
In 2013, Bellman narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri.[7] In late 2013, she played the role of "The Italian Woman" in the National Theatre's production of the Georg Kaiser play From Morning to Midnight.[8]
Since 2021, Bellman has reprised the role of Sophie Deveraux in Leverage: Redemption, a revival of Leverage.
Personal life edit
From 2005 to 2007, Bellman was married to Lucho Brieva.[citation needed]
In 2009, she had a daughter with Zaab Sethna, whom she met just after shooting the Leverage pilot.[9] She and Sethna married in 2013.[9]
Filmography edit
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | King David | Tamar | |
| Mussolini: The Untold Story | Gina Ruberti | (television mini-series) | |
| 1991 | Secret Friends | Helen | |
| 1992 | Vsetko co mam rad | Ann | |
| Leon the Pig Farmer | Lisa | ||
| 1993 | Horse Opera | Sandra/Marion | |
| 1996 | Silent Trigger | Clegg "Spotter" | |
| 1997 | David | Michal | (television film) |
| 2000 | Ted & Ralph | Henrietta Spain | |
| Paranoid | Eve | ||
| Seven Days to Live | Claudia | ||
| 2001 | Subterrain | Junkie Spirit | |
| Married/Unmarried | Amanda | ||
| 2003 | Sitting Ducks | Christine | |
| 2005 | Zerophilia | Sydney | |
| 2007 | Permanent Vacation | Kathleen Bury | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1982 | Into the Labyrinth | Christine | Episode: Phantom |
| 1984 | Grange Hill | Trudy | Episode: 7.8 Episode: 7.9 |
| 1989 | Only Fools and Horses | Carmen | Episode: The Unlucky Winner Is... |
| 1989 | Screen Two | Greta | Episode: Sitting Targets |
| 1989 | Blackeyes | Blackeyes | Episode 1.1 Episode 1.2 Episode 1.3 Episode 1.4 |
| 1991 | The Storyteller | Eurydice | Episode: Orpheus and Eurydice (live-action puppet television series) |
| 1994 | Little Napoleons | Liz Blakemore | Episode: The Big Interview |
| 1996 | Scene | Athene Nike/Trainer | Episode: Young Jung |
| 1996 | Sharman | Kiki | Episode 1.1 |
| 1999 | Jonathan Creek | Samantha | Episode: Ghost's Forge |
| 2000–2004 | Coupling | Jane Christie | 28 episodes |
| 2003 | Waking the Dead | Frannie Henning | Episode: Final Cut: Part 1 Episode: Final Cut: Part 2 |
| 2005 | The Last Detective | Caroline | Episode: Friends Reunited |
| 2007 | Hotel Babylon | Marina Stoll | Episode: 2.2 (BBC television drama) |
| 2007 | Jekyll | Claire Jackman | Episode: 1.1 Episode: 1.2 Episode: 1.3 Episode: 1.4 Episode: 1.5 Episode: Hyde |
| 2007 | Nearly Famous | Traci Reed | Episode: 1.1 Episode: 1.2 Episode: 1.4 |
| 2007 | Heroes and Villains | Catherine Carteaux | Episode: Napoleon (television docudrama) |
| 2008 | The Wrong Door | Pilot Instructor/Jill | Episode: Njarnia Episode: The Smutty Aliens |
| 2008–2012 | Leverage | Sophie Devereaux | 72 episodes |
| 2013 | Ripper Street | Jemima Swann | Series 2, episode 6 |
| 2017 | Emerald City | Karen | 5 episodes |
| 2017 | Henry IX | Lady Leonara | Series 1 All Episodes |
| 2021- | Leverage: Redemption | Sophie Devereaux | Main role |
| 2022 | Toast of Tinseltown | Shepherd Jerbil | The Scorecard, S1, Ep3 |
| Theatre | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1990 | The Rocky Horror Show | Janet Weiss | Piccadilly Theatre |
| 1994 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Gielgud Theatre |
| 1998 | Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick | Imogen | National Theatre |
| 2000 | Speed-the-Plow | Karen | Duke of York's Theatre |
| 2013 | From Morning to Midnight | Italian Lady/Salvation Army Officer | National Theatre |
| 2015 | Orson's Shadow | Vivien Leigh | Southwark Playhouse |
References edit
- ^ McFarlane, Brian (2005). The Encyclopedia of British Film. Methuen Publishing. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-413-77526-9.
- ^ a b Cavendish, Lucy (31 March 2007). "Gina Genie". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ Interview: Gina Bellman, The Jewish Chronicle, 17 January 2014
- ^ "An all-star cast to appear in BBC ONE's Jekyll". BBC Press Office. 29 August 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2006.
- ^ . electricentertainment.com. 19 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ "TNT Orders 13 Episodes of Leverage". ComingSoon.net. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
- ^ "The Love Book". Retrieved 3 October 2015.
- ^ . The National Theatre. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
- ^ a b Nathan, John (24 November 2013). "Gina Bellman 'I was never comfortable with the whole sex symbol thing'". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.