Born in Washington, D.C. on June 1, 1974, Melissa Sagemiller is an actress best known for her role on the terrorist-themed Showtime original series Sleep Cell. The daughter of a political ativist mother and a professional American foodball player father (New York Giants), she started performing when she was three, when she took up dance classes. She studied tap dance, ballet, jazz dance, and modern dance. 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. She then studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory, including New York University’s Stonestreet Studio and at Michael Howard Studios. She became engaged to Sleeper Cell co-star Alex Nesic after he proposed to her in the south of France in July 2006.
Sagemiller have graced several magazine covers, including Movieline Magazine in August 2001, and Gear magazine in November 2001. Her other screen credits include Raising the Bar, The Guardian, Life on the Ledge, Without a Trace, The Cleaning, Get Over It, and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.