MELISSA GEORGE BIOGRAPHY

Australian film and television actress Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) She has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Melissa is perhaps best known for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. She appeared in episodes of such American television series as Charmed, Alias, Friends, Lie to Me, Grey's Anatomy, and In Treatment.

She made her film debut in the neo-noir science fiction feature Dark City (1998), and later was cast in supporting roles in the films The Limey (1999) and Mulholland Dr. (2001). Other film appearances include the remake of The Amityville Horror (2005), the thriller Turistas (2006), and the vampire horror film 30 Days of Night (2007). She garnered critical acclaim for her starring role in Triangle (2009).
Melissa George was born in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Pamela, a nurse, and Glenn George, a construction worker. The second of four children, she developed an interest in dancing and began studying jazz, tap, ballet, and modern dance at the age of seven. Her enthusiasm for dance eventually evolved into a passion for artistic roller skating. She is an Australian national roller skating champion and won bronze medals in the National Championships in 1989 and 1990. She won a silver medal at the Junior World Championship in 1991.

George began modeling in her early teens, and in 1992 she was named Western Australia's Teenage Model of the Year. At the age of sixteen she met casting agent Liz Mullinar and won the role of Angel Parrish on the popular Australian soap Home and Away.

Her role earned her five consecutive Logie Award nominations, of which she won two. She moved to Sydney to start her acting career. She made a health and fitness video, Mind, Body and Soul (1996), created a sleepwear line called "An Angel at My Bedside", and had a recurring role on the short-lived Fox Broadcasting Company television fantasy drama series Roar (1997), opposite Heath Ledger, before leaving Australia to move to Los Angeles to try her luck in Hollywood.

She scored a small role in the critically favored thriller film Dark City (1998).

After a supporting role in Steven Soderbergh's 1999 neo-noir crime film The Limey, she was cast in a supporting role, Cleo Miller, in the 2001 black comedy Sugar & Spice and portrayed a major role in David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive, which opened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. She starred in several unaired TV pilots, such as Lost in Oz. She starred in the short-lived ABC drama-comedy Thieves, co-starring John Stamos. She starred in the sixth season premiere of the WB series Charmed, and had a minor role opposite Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor in the 2003 romantic comedy Down with Love.

Melissa George

In 2003, she landed the role of Lauren Reed on the ABC television series Alias. Her first starring role in a feature film was Kathy Lutz in the 2005 remake of the 1979 horror film, The Amityville Horror. The film was not well received by critics, but was a major success at the worldwide box office, grossing over $108 million.Despite bad and unfavorable reviews, Film Threat praised George and her co-star Ryan Reynolds's performances, stating that they "make a striking couple. Both young and extremely attractive" and that she "does an impeccable American accent, but otherwise she is unremarkable as Kathy Lutz. Her physical beauty is sometimes distracting, but not enough to keep the audience awed by her acting."That same year, she played Deanna Schine in the thriller Derailed, co-starring Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. In 2006, she filmed the horror-thriller Turistas with Josh Duhamel and Olivia Wilde.

In 2007, she landed the lead role, Christine, in the drama Music Within, opposite Ron Livingston. The film had a limited release. In an interview, she said that she "knew that Christine's a true character, and the woman responsible for Richard Pimentel's sort of success in a way. She was the driving force behind him and behind every good man is a good woman, and Christine was that woman." She starred in the British horror thriller WΔZ, and had a prominent role in the film adaptation of 30 Days of Night, directed by David Slade and co-starring Josh Hartnett.The film was a modest success with a over $75 million worldwide gross.

George returned to television in 2008 in the HBO half-hour drama In Treatment, co-starring Gabriel Byrne and Dianne Wiest, receiving a 2009 Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film,[12][13][14] and also received a nomination for "Best Actress" at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards.

In September 2008, it was announced that Melissa was joining the cast of Grey's Anatomy for eleven episodes as Sadie Harris, a bisexual intern, but in January 2009 it was released that she was leaving the show in a mutual agreement with the producers. In 2008, she starred in the film The Betrayed, which was released at the San Diego Film Festival, and was released direct-to-video in the United States on 30 June 2009.

On 9 November 2009, it was announced that George would guest-star in at least two episodes of Fox's Lie to Me playing Clara Martin. Melissa also received the lead role in the Australian-British mystery thriller by Chris Smith titled Triangle. which opened to highly positive reviews. Melissa also stars in the British thriller film A Lonely Place to Die, directed by Julian Gilbey.

In November 2010, George was named the new face of L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

George stars as Rosie in the Australian TV series The Slap. She will also star in the upcoming Sky1/Cinemax TV-series Nemesis.

George married Chilean film director, Claudio Dabed, on 22 September 2000. They have since separated.

She became a naturalised American citizen in 2008.
She climbed Ben Nevis for the role of A Lonely Place to Die. In an interview with The Sun, she stated, "It was tough because it's a pretty dangerous location, and it wasn't fit for a large crew, but we did it, we made it...I was climbing with Di Gilbert who has climbed Everest many times so that was incredible. And when you get up there, it's just a huge sense of achievement.
|source:wikipedia|