# Gina Bellman

Gina Bellman (born 10 July 1966) is a New Zealand-born British actress best known for her performances as grifter Sophie Devereaux in the TNT television series Leverage (2008-2012) and its Amazon Freevee revival Leverage: Redemption (2021-), as well as Jane Christie in BBC sitcom Coupling (2000-2004).

## Early life

Bellman was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to Jewish parents of Russian and Polish descent who emigrated to New Zealand from England in the 1950s. Her family returned to the United Kingdom when she was 11 years old. She was educated at Rosh Pinah Primary School and JFS in London.

## 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.
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.
In 2013, Bellman narrated poetry for The Love Book App, an interactive anthology of love literature developed by Allie Byrne Esiri. 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.
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.
In 2009, she had a daughter with Zaab Sethna, whom she met just after shooting the Leverage pilot. She and Sethna married in 2013.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | King David | Tamar | |
| 1985 | Mussolini: The Untold Story | Gina Ruberti | (television mini-series) |
| 1991 | Secret Friends | Helen | |
| 1992 | Vsetko co mam rad | Ann | |
| 1992 | 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 | |
| 2000 | Paranoid | Eve | |
| 2000 | Seven Days to Live [de] | Claudia | |
| 2001 | Subterrain | Junkie Spirit | |
| 2001 | 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 https://theatricalia.com/person/182b/gina-bellman |
| 2015 | Orson's Shadow | Vivien Leigh | Southwark Playhouse |