Lauren Cohan Drew Major Inspiration From Entrapment's Virginia Baker For Bela On Supernatural
Before she was the tough-as-nails Maggie Rhee (née Greene) on "The Walking Dead," Lauren Cohan was Bela in "Supernatural." For six episodes in Season 3, Cohan played Bela Talbot, not so much a villain as a rival to Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles); she is frequently pursuing the same quarry as they are, from a lucky rabbit's foot to an enchanted gun that can kill literally any being, natural or supernatural.
Cohan, who had only a small handful of screen credits to her name by that time, clearly found a lot of interest in playing the character. In a late 2007 interview with entertainment website Seat42F, she said she was interested in the contrast between Sam and Dean's role as hunters and Bela's as a kind of mercenary, which is a different kind of character than what had been seen on "Supernatural" by that point.
"I was told that Bela is kind of the female Humphrey Bogart," she said, touching on the character's more hard-boiled elements. "But really, I am getting my influence from Catherine Zeta-Jones' character in 'Entrapment,' who is very sneaky and has a dark past." That character is Virginia "Gin" Baker, played by Zeta-Jones, across from Sean Connery as the two conduct heists and attempt to (maybe) double-cross each other.
Bela was unfortunately killed off early
Fan's reaction to Bela Talbot was, unfortunately, negative. Chalk it up to another "Supernatural" plotline fans can't stand. Lauren Cohan also addressed this in the Seat42F interview, saying she understood why fans are protective of the Winchester brothers and how trite it might seem if a female character were introduced just for the sake of a love interest. "But our characters are not being brought on to be love interests for the boys," she objected.
Toward the season's end, creator and showrunner Eric Kripke made clear that Bela was not long for this world, and her end would be tied into that dark past. "It's not great news for her, and we show a couple of cards we've been holding onto all season," Kripke told E Online! (via Digital Spy).
As it turns out, Bela isn't stealing just for the fun or profit of it. Instead, she is trying to dodge her fate and find a way out of a deal she made with a Crossroads Demon for her soul. Unfortunately, toward her sticky end, this deal involves killing Sam. She fails, and it is later confirmed that she was dragged to Hell.