Born in New Zealand, Melissa moved to Australia in 1990 to train at the Australian Ballet School and has stayed in Australia ever since.  She now  lives in Sydney with her partner and two dogs.

In the last few years Melissa has worked in Australian theatre (both as an actress and a producer), television commercials, TV and film. She has a Diploma of Theatre Performance from Sydney Theatre School and has also trained at the Actors Centre, Screenwise, and TAFTA.

Recent credits include the role of Geraldine Willesee in the production of I, Spry, written and directed by Peter Butt for the ABC, which will go to air in October 2010 and 307, which is a short film written and directed by Stuart Willis, which was selected for the 2010 Dungog film festival.

Melissa is currently on stage at Newtown Theatre in the role of Tatiana in Anton Chekhov’s The Jubilee, which is part of a triple bill of Chekhov plays produced by the newly formed Production Company, Steam Productions. She is also currently working on a new development project (group devised theatre), collaborating with director Michael Pigott and a group of artists at the old 505 Jazz Club.