Melissa was born in Zimbabwe and moved with her family to Australia at age 5. A graduate of the Meisner Technique, Melissa began her professional acting career on stage performing in numerous plays, before landing a series regular role on Janet King for the ABC (2016). With a passion for writing and directing, Melissa wrote, produced and directed the short films iBerry in 2011 and Guardian Elf in 2013. In 2011 Melissa wrote, produced and directed her first feature film, Project Ryan.