Born and raised in Paris, France, from a Turkish mother and a French father, Melissa is a blend of several different cultures and speaks French, Turkish, English and Spanish, as well as some Russian and Italian. At only 15 years old, Melissa left Paris and moved on her own to Sydney, Australia where she learned English and studied theater. After 3 years of theater classes at the best acting school of France (Cours Florent), she moved to Vancouver, Canada, in 2005, where she studied in the "acting for film and television" program of the Vancouver Film School (VFS). She has also lived in Macedonia, where she acted in a popular TV series for 35 episodes ("Farewell Balkans"); followed by a 2 year adventure in Istanbul, Turkey where she was the host of a weekly TV show during 78 episodes on National TV.
Melissa finally settled in Los Angeles, California where she is currently based since May 2013.
Besides the Television series and shows, Melissa has also been in several feature films, including "The Precinct", which represented its country (Azerbaijan) at the 2011 Academy Awards. Melissa also directs her own short films and has attended several festivals around the world where she won Awards for her work. Last but not least, Melissa works regularly as a voice over artist, and has done commercials for big brands like Google, Apple, Adobe, lots of dubbing for movies such as ‘Bombshell’ or ‘If Beale Street could Talk’, and several audiobooks for the well known French publishing company Harlequin.
Golden Trailer Award for Most Innovative Advertising for a Feature flm for Arrival: Common Grounds
(2017)
Best Film at the Hollywood Walk of Fame Festival for There will be Peace (Hollywood, CA – 2017)
(2017)
Best Romance Award at the Universe Multicultural Film Festival (Palos Verdes, 2017)
(2017)
Nomination at the Santa Monica International Film Festival for “Te Good Agent”
(2017)
Nomination at the Burbank International Film Festival for “Te Good Agent”
(2017)
Nomination at the LA International Short Films Festival in Hollywood for “Christmas Tree”
(2017)
Nomination at the Romford International Film Festival (UK) for “BlinDate”
(2017)
Nomination to the Festival International du Film sur le Handicap (FIFH) for BlinDate (Cannes – 2017)
(2017)
Grand Prize for best short flm at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for Thunder Road (Park City, UT- 2
(2016)
Ofcial Academy Awards Selection to represent Azerbaijan in the Academy Awards Foreign Film Category
(2011)
Selected at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film corner for Te Good Agent (2017) and Panthère (2004)
(2004)
Vancouver Film School
(2005-2006)
Cours Florent
(2002-2005)