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20poundsofcrazy) wrote2008-09-20 04:09 pm
20poundsofcrazy) wrote2008-09-20 04:09 pm
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[archive] from iFMagazine
GINA BELLMAN INTERVIEW
English actress Gina Bellman will be making a jump to the states with her new role in TNT's upcoming series LEVERAGE. Taking on the role of con artist (and aspiring actress) Sophie, Bellman's character will be quite the departure from her parts on the British series' COUPLING and JEKYLL.
Bellman will be joining Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge, Christian Kane, and Beth Riesgraf in a team outlaw misfits who try to help out the little guy at the expense of the big corporate bigwigs who have all the power. Executive produced by Dean Devlin, and created by John Rogers and Chris Downey, LEVERAGE premieres this weekend, December 7 on TNT.
In the meantime, Bellman gives iF Mag a glimpse into her experience with the upcoming show.
iF MAGAZINE: I think your character is one of the most interesting on the show because she's a good actress when she's on a con, versus when she's on stage. Does it give you some great stuff to play?
GINA BELLMAN: Yeah. It's really hard to play a bad actress. It's hard to play a bad singer. All those things when you're trying to be not what you're doing is really challenging but really fun.
iF: I heard that you almost weren't able to take the part.
BELLMAN: They tested me and they really wanted me for the part and I really wanted to do it, but at the last minute I had a hold-up for my Visa. So we were to-ing and fro-ing and it was a race against time whether I would get my paperwork done. And it was really, really stressful. There was about a 10-day period when it was touch and go literally five times a day. One minute it was on, the next minute it was off. And on the day when I finally picked up my Visa, there was a water explosion in my street in London, and my whole street was corded off. There were fire engines and helicopters. They werent letting any cars in and out, so the car couldn't come take me to the airport. My neighbor had to sneak me into his car and sneak me out. By the time I did actually arrive in Chicago, Dean was so excited to see me that he ended up throwing me over his shoulder.
iF: What was the Visa problem?
BELLMAN: Because I'm British, it takes time to process. There was a period of time that we had to wait.
iF: How much will we learn about your character when the show starts?
BELLMAN: At the moment, I think everyone's back story is just going to gradually come out over a period of time. I think we're going to be focusing on the actual heist and the bonding between the group and everything. I'm hoping they will be going back to that at some point.
iF: What happens in the first couple of episodes for you?
BELLMAN: The second episode is fun for me. I get to do a German accent and play an Olympic medalist. It's going to be quite campy. The first episode is very much an ensemble episode, where we're all playing off each other in a bank job. I get to play an American and do my American accent in that episode. It's going to be fun to play with accents and disguises. Getting to play someone different every week adds an exciting element.
iF: How many accents can you do?
BELLMAN: I have a thousand accents in my repertoire. I do South African in the pilot, and I can do all the European ones.
iF: Have you learned where your character came from?
BELLMAN: I think the fun thing about this show is that each character is an enigma. We don't need to know where they came from, we don't need to know where they've been, we don't need to know where they're going. They're all like magic tricks in a way. They're all illusions.
English actress Gina Bellman will be making a jump to the states with her new role in TNT's upcoming series LEVERAGE. Taking on the role of con artist (and aspiring actress) Sophie, Bellman's character will be quite the departure from her parts on the British series' COUPLING and JEKYLL.
Bellman will be joining Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge, Christian Kane, and Beth Riesgraf in a team outlaw misfits who try to help out the little guy at the expense of the big corporate bigwigs who have all the power. Executive produced by Dean Devlin, and created by John Rogers and Chris Downey, LEVERAGE premieres this weekend, December 7 on TNT.
In the meantime, Bellman gives iF Mag a glimpse into her experience with the upcoming show.
iF MAGAZINE: I think your character is one of the most interesting on the show because she's a good actress when she's on a con, versus when she's on stage. Does it give you some great stuff to play?
GINA BELLMAN: Yeah. It's really hard to play a bad actress. It's hard to play a bad singer. All those things when you're trying to be not what you're doing is really challenging but really fun.
iF: I heard that you almost weren't able to take the part.
BELLMAN: They tested me and they really wanted me for the part and I really wanted to do it, but at the last minute I had a hold-up for my Visa. So we were to-ing and fro-ing and it was a race against time whether I would get my paperwork done. And it was really, really stressful. There was about a 10-day period when it was touch and go literally five times a day. One minute it was on, the next minute it was off. And on the day when I finally picked up my Visa, there was a water explosion in my street in London, and my whole street was corded off. There were fire engines and helicopters. They werent letting any cars in and out, so the car couldn't come take me to the airport. My neighbor had to sneak me into his car and sneak me out. By the time I did actually arrive in Chicago, Dean was so excited to see me that he ended up throwing me over his shoulder.
iF: What was the Visa problem?
BELLMAN: Because I'm British, it takes time to process. There was a period of time that we had to wait.
iF: How much will we learn about your character when the show starts?
BELLMAN: At the moment, I think everyone's back story is just going to gradually come out over a period of time. I think we're going to be focusing on the actual heist and the bonding between the group and everything. I'm hoping they will be going back to that at some point.
iF: What happens in the first couple of episodes for you?
BELLMAN: The second episode is fun for me. I get to do a German accent and play an Olympic medalist. It's going to be quite campy. The first episode is very much an ensemble episode, where we're all playing off each other in a bank job. I get to play an American and do my American accent in that episode. It's going to be fun to play with accents and disguises. Getting to play someone different every week adds an exciting element.
iF: How many accents can you do?
BELLMAN: I have a thousand accents in my repertoire. I do South African in the pilot, and I can do all the European ones.
iF: Have you learned where your character came from?
BELLMAN: I think the fun thing about this show is that each character is an enigma. We don't need to know where they came from, we don't need to know where they've been, we don't need to know where they're going. They're all like magic tricks in a way. They're all illusions.