Gina Russo

Infobox character | name = Gina Russo


real_name = Gina Russo
portrayer = Jessalyn Gilsig
creator = Ryan Murphy
species =
gender = Female
first = Kurt Dempsey "(episode 1.05)"
last = Magda and Jeff "(episode 5.10)"
last_cause = Fell off a roof
age = 38 (deceased)
occupation = Real estate agent, former owner of De La Mer
title =
alias =
family =
spouse =
children = Wilber Sutherland
relatives =
footnotes =

Gina Russo was a fictional character in the American television series "Nip/Tuck". She was portrayed by Jessalyn Gilsig.

Character history

She was a bitter, troubled sex addict, and was often the foil to Christian Troy. She and Christian had a love/hate sexual relationship initiated by Christian when he broke Gina's months-long vow of celibacy for a one-night stand, incurring Gina's wrath against him for months.

Gina had Borderline Personality Disorder. She alternated between adoring Christian and calling him names. She also suffered from bulimia, sexual addiction, self-hatred, fear of abandonment, self-destructiveness, sarcasm, rage, bitterness and a tendency to profanity at minor setbacks. As a spiteful wedding gift to Christian's fiancee Kimber Henry she wrapped up the diaphragm she used with Christian. She arrived uninvited to the wedding dressed in a low cut white dress to upstage the bride.

Sex life

She and Christian met at a Sexaholics Anonymous meeting, where they began a love/hate sexual relationship initiated by Christian when he broke Gina's months-long vow of celibacy for a one-night stand, incurring Gina's wrath against him for months. Along with other conditions, she would have sex with different partners and forget the identities of her partners. Her Sexaholics Anonymous group calls this "Blackout Sex."

Her favorite type of sex was anal, though she was also a huge fan of vaginal penetration. At her funeral, she was praised as giving the best blow jobs and hand jobs around. She was also credited as being extremely well-adept at cunnilingus.

HIV

Months later Gina revealed to Christian she was HIV-positive, which forced Christian to rethink his life as he called up every girl he had sex with since his relationship with Gina to warn them, and then tracked down James and Wilber (who had since been renamed Gabriel) so they could be tested - all three were HIV-negative. James convinced Christian to see the good in Gina, and he eventually forgave her. Christian ended up paying for Gina's HIV medication (upon finding out that she was without any health care insurance and was not on any HIV medication), and the rent for her apartment.

The two had since developed a friendship, though that quickly changed when Christian's money troubles forced him to stop supporting her.

The Carver

In the Season 3 Finale, Gina was attacked at Troy/McNamara surgery by the Carver, a masked serial rapist who had taken a special interest in the partnership's clients. Later when asked by Sean and Christian, she explained that she was there to ask Christian to be her date. Christian refused, saying that he did not want to ruin their friendship.

De La Mer

Unable to support her medications for HIV treatment, Gina soon found a way to support herself by embarking on an ambitious business venture with Julia McNamara, a surgical recovery spa called "De La Mer".

Gina found a creative way to keep down costs on "De La Mer". Gina's self-destructiveness continued when she began to offer oral sex to contractors and construction workers (male and female) in exchange for reduced fees. Julia was horrified and, for perhaps the first time, offered her validation and told her she is too good to be doing such things to herself.

At the beginning of Season 4, Julia explained that she sold out her share to Gina, leaving Gina as the sole owner of the spa. At the end of the season, it was revealed that Gina sold the spa for a large profit.

Last appearance

Gina returns in season 5 at the request of Dr. Sean McNamara to be the office's new receptionist. At first, it appears that Gina has turned over a new leaf, by acting friendly towards Christian. Her attraction to him was still evident, and they engaged in what she called "post-modern sex"--Gina watching as Christian had sex with a prostitute who resembled her, so that Gina could experience intimacy with Christian without risking the chance of passing HIV to him. Gina later tells an extremely ill Julia that Christian has cheated on her. In their final encounter, Christian and Gina begin to have sex on the roof of a building. However, while engaging in intercourse on a rooftop, Christian accidentally pushes Gina off the rooftop, killing her. Her funeral takes place in the following episodes, with many of Gina's sexual partners paying tribute to their experiences with her.

Wilber

Gina believed she was carrying Christian's child, conceived from their one-night stand. This seemed to spark a tremendous change in Christian who decided he wanted to be the best father he could to the child. The pair only found out in the delivery room that the child was not his because baby Wilber was half black. Christian still vowed to raise him as his own, but Gina's irresponsible behavior continued. Obsessed with motherhood, she tried to have a second child by inviting a group of men over for a "conception party," in which they have group sex--the idea being that a large volume of semen from multiple partners ensures conception. When Christian found out about this, he threatened to take sole custody of Wilber from Gina. She responded by tracking down Wilber's biological father, James Sutherland, an older married man from Arizona. James initially took Christian's side and agreed to give up custody rights to the baby so Christian to raise the child, but he later recanted and won custody of Wilber, taking away the one thing that brought Christian and Gina together.

Later in the season, Christian was given legal guardianship of Wilber (the child never did respond to the name Gabriel), after James Sutherland and his wife died in a car accident. Gina returned to fight for her own rights to her child, in episode 4.14 (Willy Ward), despite the fact that James' adult son explained that his father's will explicitly stated that Gina was to have nothing to do with the boy. Gina believed that since she had returned to success with real estate, and had sold Spa De La Mer for a large profit, she could also raise Wilber. When Christian questioned her HIV, she replied that "HIV is the new diabetes."

During dinner with Christian, Michelle, and Wilber, Gina returned and tries to visit her son. When she discovered Michelle was to be his new adopted mother, she became enraged and swore that she would have Wilber. Later in the episode, Wilber was kidnapped from the park by Gina but she later returned Wilber telling him she does not want to raise the boy as it would require too much effort to make him a proper young man. She complained that he has "potty mouth" to which Christian replied that it must be genetic. Gina realized that it is not Wilber that is missing from her life. She left him with Christian after giving him a toy firetruck.