Melissa Sagemiller Biography

Melissa Sagemiller, who was a regular on the local stage, was scouted by Eileen Ford in a Manhattan jewelry store when she was 14, following which she shifted focus from acting to modeling. In the next few years, she worked as a model in New York and also travelled to Paris frequently. However, she left modeling to complete her college education, and following graduation, took formal training before settling on an acting career. Starting with a guest role on an episode of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' in 2000, she played the lead role of Cassie in 'Soul Survivors' and went on to star alongside Ben Foster and Kirsten Dunst in 'Get Over It', both in 2001.

She subsequently played major roles in films such as 'Sorority Boys', 'Love Object', 'The Clearing', 'Standing Still', 'Life on the Ledge', 'The Guardian' and 'Mr. Woodcock'. During this period, she was a series regular on the television shows 'Sleeper Cell' and 'Raising the Bar', and also made guest appearances on 'Without a Trace' and 'Eleventh Hour'. In 2010, she appeared on the pilot for 'The Rockford Files', starred in the short film 'In Fidelity', and returned to 'Law & Order: SVU’ as its newest Assistant District Attorney, Gillian Hardwicke. She replaced Paula Patton, who had left the show after appearing in just one episode, and portrayed the character throughout the 12th season of the series.

Melissa Sagemiller, whose second film 'Get Over It' was distributed by Miramax, which was at the time managed by media mogul Harvey Weinstein, revealed in October 2017 that she was also subjected to multiple sexual advances by him. This came in the wake of the 'Me Too' movement as about two dozen women accused him of varying degrees of sexual misconduct, including rape. She told 'HuffPost' that Weinstein had made three uninvited advances towards her, all orchestrated by another woman, his assistant. He first arranged for a lunch with her and flirted throughout the meal, and after learning about her English major, offered to buy her "every Fitzgerald book in the bookstore". Next time he invited her to his hotel room to 'discuss script', following which he asked her to give him a massage, and when she refused, forced her to kiss him before letting her go. On another occasion, his assistant hijacked her luggage, shifting it from her flight to his private plane, forcing her to go with him. While she herself had no inkling of his behavior previously, she immediately tried to alert her female co-stars, but everyone just advised her to ignore it for the sake of her career. Incidentally, Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to prison term in early 2020.

Melissa Sagemiller was born on June 1, 1974, in Washington, D.C., United States, to Donna Sagemiller and Charlie Evans. Her mother, a political activist, served as President Jimmy Carter's campaign finance manager, and her father is a former American football running back who played professionally for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins in the NFL.

She began taking lessons in tap dance, ballet, jazz dance and modern dance when she was only three years old and began acting on stage at nine, playing Dill Harris in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. She was a student at Georgetown Day School when she began a short modeling stint. She later studied Art History at the University of Virginia. After deciding to pursue acting fulltime, she took lessons at the Stella Adler Conservatory, New York University's Stonestreet Studio and at Michael Howard Studios.

Melissa Sagemiller began dating her co-star Alex Nesic after they met on the set of the Showtime series 'Sleeper Cell' in 2005. They got engaged in July 2006, after he proposed to her during lunch in a hotel in the South of France. They later got married and welcomed a child in early 2010.