Mekenna Melvin (born January 23, 1985) is an American actress best known for playing Alex McHugh in ''

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * C ...

'', Angela in '' Three Rivers'' and Stefanie Fife in ''

Lie to Me ''Lie to Me'' (stylized as ''Lie to me*'') is an American crime drama television series. It originally ran on the Fox network from January 21, 2009, to January 31, 2011. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightma ...

''. She also co-created and starred as Amber Hannold in ''Amber Lake'', an independent film released in 2010.

Personal life

Melvin was born and raised in

Saratoga, California Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California. Located in Silicon Valley, in the southern Bay Area, its population was 31,051 at the 2020 census. Saratoga is an affluent residential community, known for its wineries, restaurants, and attra ...

. She became interested in acting at a young age through spending time at a local theater with her mother, a theater director, and made her first acting appearance as Woodstock in a local performance of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' at the age of 5. She is a graduate of Independence High School in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. She trained at both the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and the

British American Drama Academy The British American Drama Academy is a drama school in London, in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated with Sarah Lawrence College and Yale University. Background The British American Drama Academy (BADA) was founded in 1983 by Tony Branch and ...

Oxford, England Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. Melvin is professionally trained as an actress, dancer, and singer, and also has martial arts training, at the level of a first degree blackbelt, in

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

. She openly dated Erik Stocklin until they separated.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Melvin, Mekenna 1985 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from San Jose, California Alumni of the British American Drama Academy American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni American female taekwondo practitioners American film actresses American television actresses Living people People from Saratoga, California