Jaime Murray Biography

Jaime Murray (born 21 July 1976) is an English actress, known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series Hustle and Lila West in the Showtime series Dexter. She is also known for her recurring roles as Gaia in the Starz miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, as Olivia Charles in The CW series Ringer, as Helena G. Wells in the Syfy series Warehouse 13, and as Stahma Tarr in the Syfy series Defiance.

Early life and education

Murray was born in London, England, to Elaine and English actor Billy Murray. She was named after Lindsay Wagner's character Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman. Just before taking her A Levels, Murray was diagnosed with dyslexia. She briefly studied philosophy and psychology at the London School of Economics, but dropped out to train at the Drama Centre London, where she graduated in 2000.

Acting

Murray's first taste of stardom was miming the lyrics in the original video of Stretch & Vern's dance track "I'm Alive"(1996). Some of her early television appearances included minor guest roles in BBC One's Casualty, The Bill, Love Soup, and ShakespeaRe-Told: The Taming of the Shrew.

Murray starred as Stacie Monroe in series 1 through series 4 of Hustle. In one episode, Murray so impressed her co-star Robert Vaughn with her modeling of a Wonder Woman costume that, according to several online sources, he showed it to studio executives in Hollywood. On the strength of this, Murray was invited to audition for the title part of the Wonder Woman (2009) movie. Later, Murray reprised her role as Stacie Monroe in Hustle, series 8.

Relocating to Los Angeles, Murray starred in Dexter as Lila Tourney, Dexter Morgan's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor and the main antagonist in Season 2. Dexter spends one night in a hotel with Lila without any sexual contact, the revelation of which leads to his breakup with his girlfriend Rita Bennett. Lila and Dexter have a brief relationship, but he eventually comes to believe that Lila is in fact a sociopath who hangs out in support groups in an attempt to vicariously experience emotions in a safe environment, by closely observing them in recovering addicts. She becomes obsessed with Dexter, believing that she sees through Dexter's "mask", and he is her soulmate.

In mid-2008, Murray joined the cast of The CW's series Valentine, playing the lead character, Grace Valentine. The show began airing in October 2008 but was cancelled by the end of the month.

Murray was cast in another CW show, The Beautiful Life: TBL, as a wardrobe stylist, but the show was canceled before she was able to appear.

Murray finished shooting Possessions in 2010 and soon thereafter began shooting The Rapture. She starred in the horror film Devil's Playground(2010), directed by Mark McQueen, and then appeared as Helena G. Wells on the Syfy series Warehouse 13. Murray's portrayal of Helena G. Wells received critical praise. Her portrayal was described as "saucy", "superb", as able to "anchor a series", and "endlessly fascinating". Her absence as the villainess in the season 3 Christmas episode, "The Greatest Gift", was bemoaned with the lamentation "she would have done it better". Murray was nominated for a 2012 Portal Award for her portrayal of Helena G. Wells on Warehouse 13.

Murray also made a guest appearance on the Fox series The Finder, where she played a drug coordinator. Murray starred in the Starz miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, as Gaia, a longtime friend of Lucretia.

Murray made an appearance on the Partially Examined Life philosophy podcast, playing a part in Sartre's No Exit, alongside Lucy Lawless, Mark Linsenmayer, and Wes Alwan.

Most recently she portrayed the character of Stahma Tarr in the Syfy series Defiance, which aired its final episode in August 2015. Murray will be guest starring in Once Upon a Time as the Black Fairy.

Modeling

Murray modeled clothing in television advertisements for Debenhams department store. She is signed to Models 1 in London and has appeared in men's magazines such as GQ, Mayfair, and FHM, as well as women's magazines such as Hello!, Cosmopolitan, and OK!.

Personal life

Murray married Bernie Cahill, a partner in an entertainment management company, in May 2014.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Animal	Saleswoman
2007	'	Medea
2007	Botched	Anna
2010	Devil's Playground	Lavinia
2012	Possessions	Chloe
2013	Samuel Bleak	Vivian Bleak
2013	Fright Night 2: New Blood	Gerri Dandridge	Direct-to-video
2015	'	Fiona	In post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	'	Tania Matthews	Episode: "A Pound of Flesh"
2002	Casualty	Sonia Guzman	Episode: "Thicker Than Water"
2002	'	Melanie	3 episodes
2003	Keen Eddie	Kiki	Episode: "Pilot (a.k.a. Eddie)"
2004	Doctors and Nurses	Bella Olazabal	Episode: "Bella Bella"
2004-07; 2012	Hustle	Stacie Monroe	Main cast (series 1-4, 8); 25 episodes
2005	Love Soup	Natalie Brown	Episode: "Death and Nurses"
2005	ShakespeaRe-Told	Bianca Minola	Episode: "The Taming of The Shrew"
2005	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Ruth Kettering	Episode: "The Mystery of the Blue Train"
2007	Dexter	Lila West	10 episodes
2008-2009	Valentine	Grace Valentine/Aphrodite	Main cast; 8 episodes
2009	'	Nadia Sobell	Episode: "Carnelian Inc."
2009	Eli Stone	Diane Rundlet	Episode: "Flight Path"
2009	NCIS	ICE Agent Julia Foster-Yates	Episode: "Semper Fidelis"
2009	'	Vivienne	5 episodes
2010-2014	Warehouse 13	Helena "H.G." Wells	15 episodes
2011	Spartacus: Gods of the Arena	Gaia	Miniseries; 4 episodes
2011-12	Ringer	Olivia Charles	10 episodes
2012	'	Amadea Denaris	Episode: "An Orphan Walks Into a Bar"
2012	Childrens Hospital	Kitty Black	Episode: "British Hospital"
2013-15	Defiance	Stahma Tarr	Main cast
2015	Sleepy Hollow	Carmilla Pines	Episode: "Kali Yuga"
2016-present	Once Upon a Time	Black Fairy	Episode: "Changelings" Episode: "The Black Fairy"

Web

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Suite 7	Jessy	Episode: "Good in Bed"
2012	Jan	Andie	4 episodes

Music videos

Year	Title	Artist
2012	"Goodbye in Her Eyes"	Zac Brown Band