Bell is the daughter of a British father of Scottish descent and an Iranian mother. Her parents divorced and she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, California when she was three years old. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States at age 12. She acted in various television advertisements as a child. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with an interest in becoming a biomedical engineer or doctor but dropped out to become a model . One of her first modelling jobs was an extended assignment in Japan .

Her first appearance in a film was as a body double for Isabella Rossellini in Death Becomes Her ( 1992 ). In 2003 , Bell played a supporting role in the comedy Bruce Almighty , which starred Jim Carrey . Up until April 29 , 2005 , Bell also played Marine Lt Colonel Sarah McKenzie on the television show JAG .

Bell is fluent in Persian and is a noted member of the Church of Scientology . Bell is married to Adam Beason and has a daughter, Gemma who was born on April 16, 2003.

Bell is a survivor of thyroid cancer and had to have her thyroid removed in her 20s. She has a surgical scar on her neck.

Bell is renowned in NFL football history as being the only person ever to have correctly predicted, in a major publication, the participants in, winner, and final score of a Super Bowl before the regular season . Before the 2001 NFL regular season began, " The Sporting News " reported that Bell predicted the outcome of Super Bowl XXXVI would be: New England Patriots 20, St. Louis Rams 17.