Gina Bellman (born 10 July 1966) is a New Zealand-born British actress. She played grifter Sophie Devereaux in the

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

television series '' Leverage'' (2008-2012) and its

Amazon Freevee Amazon Freevee (stylized as freevee and fv, also shortened as Freevee, formerly known as IMDb Freedive and IMDb TV, and sometimes spelled FV) is an American Free ad-supported streaming television, ad-supported video on demand, video-on-demand ( ...

revival '' Leverage: Redemption'' (2021-), as well as Jane Christie in the BBC

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

Coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mo ...

'' (2000-2004).

Early life

Bellman was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, to Jewish parents of Russian and Polish descent who emigrated to New Zealand from the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Her family returned to Britain 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 ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' in 1984, she became a household name for her performance in the title role in

Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978) and '' The Singing Detective'' ...

's drama ''

Blackeyes ''Blackeyes'' is a multi-layered novel by British writer Dennis Potter, published in 1987 by Faber and Faber. It concerns the relationship between sexuality, exploitation, power and money. These are explored through the career of a desirable mo ...

''. She is also well known for playing Jane in the sitcom ''

''. Her other TV roles include '' Waking the Dead'', ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'', ''

Little Napoleons ''Little Napoleons'' was a 1994 Channel 4 television serial starring Saeed Jaffrey, Norman Beaton, Simon Callow and Lesley Manville as four politicians involved in local council elections. Beaton and Jaffrey played rival Labour candidates while ...

'', and one-off appearances in ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'' and '' Hotel Babylon''. She has also appeared in several feature films including ''

King David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

'' (1985), which starred

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...

and

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. He began his career on stage, appearing in productions in both the West End of London and on Broadway in New York City. He came to wider att ...

, ''

Secret Friends ''Secret Friends'' is a 1991 British film written and directed by Dennis Potter and starring Alan Bates, Gina Bellman and Ian McNeice. It was based on Potter's novel ''Ticket to Ride''. The screenplay concerns a man whose fantasy spirals out of c ...

'' (1991), ''

Leon the Pig Farmer ''Leon the Pig Farmer'' is a 1992 British comedy about a Jewish estate agent in London who discovers that thanks to an artificial insemination mishap, his real father owns a pig farm in Yorkshire. It was directed by Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor, a ...

'' (1992), and ''

Silent Trigger ''Silent Trigger'' is a 1996 American action thriller film directed by Russell Mulcahy starring Dolph Lundgren and Gina Bellman about a sniper and his female spotter. Lundgren plays Waxman, a former Special Forces soldier who is now working as a ...

'' (1996) opposite

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

. She co-starred alongside

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994). ...

in the 2007

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

drama serial ''

Jekyll Jekyll may refer to: Entertainment Film * ''The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll'', a 1960 horror film * '' Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo'', a 1972 Spanish horror film * ''Jekyll'' (2007 film), a 2007 horror film Television * ''Jekyll'' (TV series), a 20 ...

'', a modern-day sequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's ''

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between ...

'', written by ''Coupling'' author

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as the second showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi television ser ...

. In 2008, she began appearing on the TNT channel's serial drama '' Leverage'', starring

Timothy Hutton Timothy Hutton (born August 16, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He is the List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees#Youngest winners 4, youngest recipient of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which he ...

, for which she was nominated for a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

for Best Supporting Actress in Television, but lost to

Lucy Lawless Lucille Frances Lawless (; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress and director. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series ''Xena: Warrior Princess'', as Number Three (Battlestar Galactica), D'Anna Biers on the re-im ...

. In 2013, Bellman narrated poetry for ''The Love Book App'', an interactive anthology of love literature developed by

Allie Byrne Esiri Allie Esiri (born 26 January 1967), formerly Allie Byrne, is a British writer, poetry curator and producer who is a former stage, film, and television actress. She is the daughter of British actor, Michael Byrne. Esiri curates and produces poe ...

. In late 2013, she played the role of "The Italian Woman" in the National Theatre's production of the

Georg Kaiser Friedrich Carl Georg Kaiser, called Georg Kaiser, (25 November 1878 – 4 June 1945) was a German dramatist. Biography Kaiser was born in Magdeburg. He was highly prolific and wrote in a number of different styles. An Expressionist dramatist, ...

play ''

From Morning to Midnight ''Von morgens bis mitternachts'' is an expressionist play written by the German dramatist Georg Kaiser in 1912. The play was banned by German censors for unclear reasons; contemporary accounts stated that the play was neither immoral nor anarchis ...

''. 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

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellman, Gina 1966 births Living people 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Auckland People educated at JFS (school) British film actresses British Jews British people of Polish-Jewish descent British people of Russian-Jewish descent British television actresses Jewish British actresses New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom New Zealand Jews New Zealand people of Polish-Jewish descent New Zealand people of Russian-Jewish descent New Zealand expatriates in England