Melissa George Biography

Melissa Suzanne George (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian-born film and television actress who has worked in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. George is perhaps best known in Australia for her role as Angel Parrish on the Australian soap opera Home and Away (1993"1996). After moving to America, she appeared in television series such as Friends (2003), Alias (2003"2004), In Treatment (2008), Grey's Anatomy (2008"2009) and Lie to Me (2010), earning a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film for In Treatment.

She made her film début in the neo-noir science fiction feature Dark City (1998) and later appeared in supporting roles in films, including The Limey (1999) and Mulholland Drive (2001). She has gone on to have lead roles in films, including the remake of The Amityville Horror (2005), the thriller Turistas (2006), the vampire horror film 30 Days of Night (2007) and garnered critical acclaim for her starring role in Triangle (2009).

Her most recent credits include the thriller A Lonely Place to Die (2011), the Australian drama series The Slap (2011), for which she won a Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress, and the British-American spy drama series Hunted (2012).

Early life

Melissa George was born in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Pamela, a nurse, and Glenn George, a construction worker. William Ward, a grandfather on her mother's side, worked as a prison warden at Rottnest Island, offshore from Perth. The second of four children, George 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.

Career

Early work (1992"1998)

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).

Career breakthrough (1999"2007)

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 had a minor 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.

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 W"?Z, 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 an over $75 million worldwide gross.

Recent roles (2008"present)

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, and also received a nomination for "Best Actress" at the 2009 Australian Film Institute Awards.

In September 2008, it was announced that George 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. George also received the lead role in the Australian-British mystery thriller by Chris Smith titled Triangle, which opened to highly positive reviews. George 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.

In 2012, George appeared as Rosie in the Australian TV series The Slap and as Sam Hunter in the British TV series Hunted. In November 2012, George voiced her dislike of the Australian media referencing her role in Home and Away.

Personal life

George met film director Claudio Dabed in Bali in 1998 and married two years later. George became a naturalized American citizen in 2008. In 2011 she and Dabed announced their intention to divorce and George began dating hip hop mogul Russell Simmons. Since meeting at the BAFTA after party in 2011, she has been dating French entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc, the founder of AlloCiné. In August 2013, George announced that she was expecting her first child.

George is the cousin of the opera singer Taryn Fiebig.

She climbed Ben Nevis mountain 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." She is credited as the inventor of "Style Snaps", a device intended to allow changing pant hem length without sewing and marketed via direct response TV. She has stated that her invention earns her more money than her acting career.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Fable	Rex Fable	TV film
1997	Hollyweird	Caril Ann	TV film
1998	Dark City	May
1999	The Limey	Jennifer 'Jenny' Wilson
2001	Sugar & Spice	Cleo Miller
2001	Mulholland Drive	Camilla Rhodes
2001	New Port South	Amanda
2002	Lost in Oz	Alexandra Wilder	TV film
2003	Down with Love	Elkie
2003	L.A. Confidential	Lynn Bracken	TV pilot
2005	The Amityville Horror	Kathy Lutz
2005	Derailed	Deanna Schine
2006	Turistas	Pru Stagler
2007	Music Within	Christine
2007	W"?Z	Helen Westcott
2007	Home Sick	Call Girl #2
2007	30 Days of Night	Stella Oleson
2008	The Betrayed	Jamie
2009	Devil's Eye	Melissa	Short film
2009	Triangle	Jess
2009	U.S. Attorney	Susan Shelle	TV film
2010	Second Chances	Kate Fischer	TV film
2011	A Lonely Place to Die	Alison
2011	Swinging with the Finkels	Janet
2011	Bag of Bones	Mattie Devore	TV film
2012	Between Us	Sharyl
2013	Felony	Fiona Hunter	In post-production
2013	Gothica	Fiona Hunter	TV film; in post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993"1996	Home and Away	Angel Parrish	Main role Logie Award for Most Popular Actress Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent Nominated " Logie Award " Gold Logie Nominated " Logie Award for Most Popular Actress
1997	Roar	Molly	Recurring role
1997	Murder Call	Petra Salinis	Episode: "Hot Shot"
1999	Silk Stalkings	Fiona Grant	Episode: "A Clockwork Florida Orange"
2000	Tales of the South Seas	Kat	Episode: "The Outlaws"
2001	Thieves	Rita	Main role
2003	Coupling	Susan	Episode: Unaired pilot
2003	Friends	Molly	Episode: "The One with Phoebe's Rats" Episode: "The One Where Monica Sings"
2003	Monk	Jenna Ryan	Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater"
2003	Charmed	Freyja	Episode: "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 1)" Episode: "Valhalley of the Dolls (Part 2)"
2003"2004	Alias	Lauren Reed	Main role (third season) Saturn Award " Cinescape Genre Face of the Future Award " Female
2006	Two Twisted	Mathilda Banks	Episode: "There's Something About Kyanna"
2008	In Treatment	Laura Hill	Main role (first season) Nominated " Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress Nominated " Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries, or Television Film
2008"2009	Grey's Anatomy	Sadie Harris	Recurring role (fifth season)
2010	Lie to Me	Clara Musso	Episode: "The Whole Truth" Episode: "Teacher and Pupils" Episode: "Bullet Bump"
2011	The Slap	Rosie	Main role Equity Award for Most Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Television Movie or Miniseries Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress
2012	Hunted	Sam Hunter/Alex Kent	Main role
2013"	The Good Wife	Marilyn	Recurring role
2013	Sam Hunter	Sam Hunter	Main role

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Edge of Twilight	Charlotte Lockton	Voice role