Gina Bellman

3.1. Early roles and breakthrough

Bellman made her television acting debut in 1982 with an appearance in an episode of Into the Labyrinth. She later had a two-episode stint in Grange Hill in 1984. Her breakthrough came with her performance in the title role of Dennis Potter's 1989 drama Blackeyes, which brought her widespread recognition. Following this, she became widely known for playing the character Jane Christie in the popular BBC sitcom Coupling, a role she maintained from 2000 to 2004 across 28 episodes.

3.2. Mainstream success and ongoing work

Bellman continued to build her career with various roles in acclaimed television series. In 2007, she co-starred with James Nesbitt in the 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.

Her career saw a significant international turn in 2008 when she began appearing in the TNT channel's serial drama Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton. In this series, she played Sophie Devereaux, a con artist and actress specializing in grifting, a role she inhabited for 72 episodes until 2012. Her performance earned her a nomination for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress in Television. Bellman reprised her role as Sophie Devereaux in Leverage: Redemption, a revival of the series that began in 2021.

Throughout her career, Bellman has also appeared in other notable television productions, including Waking the Dead, Jonathan Creek, Little Napoleons, The Last Detective, Hotel Babylon, Nearly Famous, Heroes and Villains, The Wrong Door, Ripper Street, Emerald City, Henry IX, and Toast of Tinseltown. Her film appearances include King David (1985), where she starred alongside Richard Gere and Edward Woodward, Secret Friends (1991), Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), Silent Trigger (1996) opposite Dolph Lundgren, Paranoid (2000), Zerophilia (2005), and Permanent Vacation (2007).

3.3. Other professional activities

Beyond her on-screen roles, Bellman has engaged in other professional activities. In 2013, she contributed her voice to The Love Book App, an interactive anthology of love literature, where she narrated poetry. In late 2013, she took to the stage, playing the role of "The Italian Woman" and later a "Salvation Army Officer" in the National Theatre's production of the Georg Kaiser play From Morning to Midnight. She also performed in the 2015 stage production of Orson's Shadow, portraying Vivien Leigh at the Southwark Playhouse.

5.1. Film

5.2. Television

5.3. Theatre