Born in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 1974, Melissa Sagemiller started performing when she was three, when she took up dance classes. Her debut stage performance was in To Kill A Mockingbird . Modeling took precedence over acting when she turned fourteen, when Eileen Ford, perusing inside a jewelry shop, personally scouted her to join the Ford Modeling agency. She left modeling shortly afterwards to pursue a degree in art history at the University of Virginia. Her film credits include Sorority Boys and Love Object.
Gayle Bishop is played by Melissa Sagemiller on Showtime’s terrorism-themed drama Sleeper Cell. Gayle is a single mother who falls in love with African American Muslim FBI agent
Darwyn al-Sayeed .