Who is Melissa Marie Benoist?
American actress, singer and producer Melissa Marie Benoist was born under the zodiac sign Libra on 4 October 1988, in Houston, Texas USA. She has 34 acting credits, and is perhaps known best for playing the title character, as well as several others in 126 episodes of the action adventure series “Supergirl”, which was created by Greg Berlanti and Ali Adler, and also starred David Harewood and Chyler Leigh. It follows the life of Superman’s cousin Supergirl, the series aired from 2015 through 2021, and won 15 of its 82 award nominations.
Melissa’s today highly active in the film industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming series “The Girls on the Bus”.
Education and early life
Melissa was raised in Houston alongside her sisters Kristina and Jessica, by their father Jim Benoist who’s a physician and mother Julie who’s a housewife; Melissa was 13 when her parents divorced. Her sister Kristina’s today an ecological scientist and Jessica a novelist; the girls also have five half-siblings from their father’s second marriage. Melissa was raised in Denver, Colorado by her mother following her parents’ split.
She grew up being passionate about various activities; Melissa was only three when she began taking dance lessons, excelling in tap, ballet and jazz, and was four when cast to appear in a play performed at a local church. She performed anonymously at Disneyland during her teenage years, and went on to attend the musical theatre school Academy of Theatre Arts in Littleton, Colorado.
Melissa matriculated from Arapahoe High School in 2007, and then moved to New York City in pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry; she also enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre arts in 2011.
Roles in movies
Melissa’s debut film role was playing Laurel – Age 18 in the 2008 adventure comedy “Tennessee”, directed by Aaron Woodley, and which starred Mariah Carey, Ethan Peck and Adam Rothenberg; it follows three young adults as they’re pursuing their dreams.
A couple of Melissa’s following roles were in the 2012 short film “Tampax: Radiant TV Commercial Two featuring Melissa Benoist”, the critically acclaimed 2014 musical “Whiplash”, which won 98 of its 242 award nominations, including three Oscar wins, and the 2015 biographical comedy “Danny Collins”. In 2015, she played Marcia in the romantic comedy “The Longest Ride”, directed by George Tillman Jr, and which starred Scott Eastwood, Alan Alda and Britt Robertson. It follows a young couple who’ve met a much older man, and the film won one of its six award nominations.
Melissa could then have been seen appearing in the 2015 adventure crime comedy “Band of Robbers”, and in 2016 the crime adventure “Lowriders” and the short action fantasy “Superhero Fight Club 2.0”.
In 2017, she played Tally Petersen in the comedy “Sun Dogs”, directed by Jennifer Morrison, who also starred in it alongside Allison Janney and Michael Angarano. It follows a young man who’s determined to become a military hero; the film won six awards.
Some of Melissa’s most recent movie roles have been in the short comedy “The Stew”, the action adventure comedy “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” both in 2019, and the 2022 comedy “Clerks III”.
Roles in TV series
Melissa’s debut TV series role was playing Jessalyn Kerr in the 2010 episode “Delicate” of the crime action “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, and the same year saw her appear in an episode of the crime mystery “Blue Bloods”, the crime action “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, and the crime mystery “The Good Wife”.
From 2012 through 2014, she played Marley Rose in 42 episodes of the popular musical comedy “Glee”, created by Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, and which starred Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele and Jane Lynch. It follows a group of teenagers as they’ve joined a glee club, the series aired from 2009 through 2015, and won 90 of its 304 award nominations.
In 2017 and 2018, Melissa voiced Overgirl in eight episodes of the animated action fantasy “Freedom Fighters: The Ray”, which starred Jason Mitchell and Russell Tovey, and follows reporter Raymond ‘Ray’ Terill who’s gained light-based superpowers now that he’s been attacked with a ‘genetic light bomb’.
Some of Melissa’s most recent TV series roles have been in five episodes of the 2020 action crime adventure “Arrow”, the 2020 episode “Sundancer Craig in: 30% of the Way to Crying” of the short animated adventure “Robot Chicken” (voice role), and five episodes of the 2024 animated action adventure “Masters of the Universe: Revolution”.
After the first look at Melissa Benoist as Supergirl released, Stephen Amell discussed how important and tricky first look reveals actually are
The Arrow crew thought they had taken the perfect first look photo, until Katie Cassidy pointed out the one arrow not in the quiver pic.twitter.com/xKC3kZ9uBM
— Neb | 🏳️🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes) March 6, 2023
Other credits
Melissa sang a song in the 2017 episode “Duet” of the action adventure series “The Flash”.
She directed the 2020 episode “Deus Lex Machina” of the series “Supergirl”.
Some of Melissa’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “The Kelly Clarkson Show”, “Work in Progress with Sophia Bush”, and “Superpowered: The DC Story”.
Awards and nominations
Melissa’s won four of her 13 award nominations. She won two Saturn Awards in 2016 and 2017 and two Teen Choice Awards for Choice TV Actress: Action in 2017 and 2018, all for her performance in “Supergirl”.
Love life and marriages
Melissa prefers not to share many details about her love life with the public but some are still known. She revealed in 2015 that she had been married to American actor Blake Alexander Jenner for ‘longer than anybody knows’; it was later established that the two married in a private ceremony on 19 June 2013. Their divorce was finalized on 21 December 2017, a year after they’d split.
She began dating American actor Christopher Charles ‘Chris’ Wood in the first half of 2017, not long after she and Blake had separated. The two met on the set of the series “Supergirl”, became engaged on 10 February 2019 and married on 1 September 2019; Melissa gave birth to their son Huxley Robert Wood on 25 September 2020.
We don’t know about other men whom Melissa’s maybe been with; she’s married to her second husband Chris Wood as of February 2024, and they have a son together.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Melissa loves to ride her bicycle and has a tattoo of it on her left foot; it’s interesting to mention that she was hit by a taxi while she was learning to ride a bike. She also has two other tattoos: a feather and the word ‘free’ on the back of her neck and a wolf on her left wrist.
She was the very first actress to audition for the title role in the series “Supergirl”.
Melissa’s followed by more than 4.5 million people on Instagram and has shared over 520 pictures and videos; most of her content features her attending red carpet events, spending time with her husband, or travelling around the world.
One of her favorite actresses is Emily Blunt, and a couple of Melissa’s favorite films are “A Quiet Place”, “Pain Hustlers” and “The Devil Wears Prada”.
Net worth, height and age
Melissa’s age is 35. She’s 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, weighs around 130lbs (60kgs) and has blue eyes and brown hair, although she often dyes her hair blonde.
Melissa’s net worth’s been estimated at over $4 million, as of February 2024.
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