Melissa Sagemiller (born June 1, 1974) is an American television and film actress.

Early life and education

Sagemiller was born in Washington, D.C. to a political activist mother and a professional American football player father, who played in the NFL for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins.¹ She attended Georgetown Day School. Her entry into the performing arts was at age 3 when she began studying tap dance, ballet, jazz dance and modern dance. She made her stage debut in To Kill a Mockingbird when she was 9 years old, and soon after she became a regular on her local stage. At 14, however, acting took a backseat to modeling after Sagemiller was scouted by Eileen Ford in a jewelry shop. She eventually left modeling to take an undergraduate degree in Art History at the University of Virginia.

Career

Shortly after graduation, she decided to return to acting full-time, and studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory, New York University's Stonestreet Studio and at Michael Howard Studios. In July 2006, Sagemiller became engaged to Sleeper Cell co-star Alex Nesic after he proposed to her in the South of France.

Sagemiller appeared in Movieline magazine in August 2001.² In November 2001, Sagemiller appeared in Gear magazine.³ She now stars as Michelle Ernhardt in the TNT series Raising the Bar.

Filmography

• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1 episode, "Russian Love Poem", 2000) .... Becky Sorenson
• Get Over It (2001) .... Allison McAllister
• Soul Survivors (2001) .... Cassie
• Sorority Boys (2002) .... Leah
• Love Object (2003) .... Lisa Bellmer
• The Clearing (2004) .... Jill Hayes
• Standing Still (2005) .... Samantha
• Life on the Ledge (2005) .... Claire
• Without a Trace (1 episode, "When Darkness Falls", 2005) .... Carmen Kuskowski
• The Guardian (2006) .... Emily Thomas
• Sleeper Cell (17 episodes, 2005-2006) .... Gayle Bishop
• Mr. Woodcock (2007) .... Tracy
• Pick Up the Pace: Making Mr. Woodcock (2008) (V) .... Herself
• Phys Ed Trauma Tales (2008) (V) .... Herself
• Eleventh Hour (1 episode, 2009) .... Sofia Lyons
• Raising the Bar (12 episodes, 2008-2009) .... Michelle Ernhardt
• In Fidelity (2009) .... Nicole/Pamela

References

External links

• Melissa Sagemiller at the Internet Movie Database