Gina Bellman

Last updated

Gina Bellman
Gina Bellman on Sidewalks Entertainment.jpg
Bellman in 2023
Born1966 (age 5758)
Auckland, New Zealand
OccupationActress
Years active1982–present
Spouses
Lucho Brieva
(m. 2005;div. 2007)
Zaab Sethna
(m. 2013)
Children1

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 .

Contents

Early life

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

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

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

Film
YearFilmRoleNotes
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  [ de ]Claudia
2001SubterrainJunkie Spirit
Married/UnmarriedAmanda
2003 Sitting Ducks Christine
2005 Zerophilia Sydney
2007 Permanent Vacation Kathleen Bury
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1982 Into the Labyrinth ChristineEpisode: Phantom
1984 Grange Hill TrudyEpisode: 7.8
Episode: 7.9
1989 Only Fools and Horses Carmen Episode: The Unlucky Winner Is...
1989 Screen Two GretaEpisode: Sitting Targets
1989 Blackeyes BlackeyesEpisode 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 BlakemoreEpisode: The Big Interview
1996 Scene Athene Nike/TrainerEpisode: Young Jung
1996 Sharman KikiEpisode 1.1
1999 Jonathan Creek Samantha Episode: Ghost's Forge
2000–2004 Coupling Jane Christie28 episodes
2003 Waking the Dead Frannie Henning Episode: Final Cut: Part 1
Episode: Final Cut: Part 2
2005 The Last Detective CarolineEpisode: 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 ReedEpisode: 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 Devereaux72 episodes
2013 Ripper Street Jemima SwannSeries 2, episode 6
2017 Emerald City Karen5 episodes
2017 Henry IX Lady LeonaraSeries 1 All Episodes
2021- Leverage: Redemption Sophie DevereauxMain role
2022 Toast of Tinseltown Shepherd JerbilThe Scorecard, S1, Ep3
Theatre
YearTitleRoleNotes
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

https://theatricalia.com/person/182b/gina-bellman

2015 Orson's Shadow Vivien Leigh Southwark Playhouse

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References

  1. McFarlane, Brian (2005). The Encyclopedia of British Film. Methuen Publishing. p. 58. ISBN   978-0-413-77526-9.
  2. 1 2 Cavendish, Lucy (31 March 2007). "Gina Genie". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  3. Interview: Gina Bellman, The Jewish Chronicle , 17 January 2014
  4. "An all-star cast to appear in BBC ONE's Jekyll". BBC Press Office. 29 August 2006. Retrieved 30 August 2006.
  5. "Electric Entertainment's Leverage has been nominated for three Saturn Awards and two Prism Awards". electricentertainment.com. 19 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  6. "TNT Orders 13 Episodes of Leverage". ComingSoon.net. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
  7. "The Love Book" . Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  8. "From Morning to Midnight". The National Theatre. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  9. 1 2 Nathan, John (24 November 2013). "Gina Bellman 'I was never comfortable with the whole sex symbol thing'". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 17 July 2020.