Melanie Chandra (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Kannokada; born February 28, 1986) is an American actress, model, and co-founder of Hospital for Hope. She is best known for her roles as Malaya Pineda on the ''
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
'' medical drama ''
Code Black'' and Mel in the ''
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
'' television movie ''Hot Mess Holiday''.
Early life and education
Chandra was born Melanie Kannokada to
Malayali
The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
parents in
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Buffalo Grove, officially the Village of Buffalo Grove, is a village in Lake and Cook County, Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo Grove has a population of 43,212. It tot ...
.
After high school, Chandra earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
.
Upon graduation, Chandra initially began working at consulting firm
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
, which she left to concentrate on her interest in modeling and acting. She stated that she found the management job "intellectually fascinating" but not something she wanted to do "getting up every morning".
Career
After finishing college, Chandra entered and won the 2007 Miss India America contest.
Chandra worked as a model and commercial actress in national and international campaigns for Nescafe, Verizon, Glamour Magazine, P&G, Crocs, Acura, Herbal Essences, LG, and Clinique.
In fall 2011, she was selected as one of the five faces of
Bare Escentuals
is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational cosmetic company founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1872. Its product categories consist of: skin care, makeup, body care, hair care, and fragrances. The company is one of the oldest cosmetic c ...
international "Be A Force of Beauty" campaign. In fall 2012, she was selected to model in a five-page editorial spread for
Vogue India Magazine.
Within a week of moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, Chandra successfully auditioned for guest star role in the CBS hit sitcom ''
Rules of Engagement
Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...
'' opposite comedian
David Spade
David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...
.
She starred in the CBS show ''
Code Black'' and has guest starred in ABC Family's ''
The Nine Lives of Chloe King
''The Nine Lives of Chloe King'' is an American supernatural drama television series which premiered on ABC Family on June 14, 2011, and ended on August 16, 2011. The one-hour drama is based on the book series of the same name by Liz Braswell. T ...
'', NBC's ''
Parenthood'' and CBS's ''
NCIS: Los Angeles''. She also had a large recurring role on HBO's
The Brink opposite
Jack Black
Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...
and
Aasif Mandvi
Aasif Hakim Mandviwala (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Aasif Mandvi (, ), is a British-American actor, comedian and author. He was a correspondent on ''The Daily Show'' from 2006 to 2017. Mandvi's other television work includes the ...
. In 2019, it was announced she will be developing a series called "Attachment" with
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
, alongside her co-creator and writer,
Amy Aniobi
Amy Aniobi is a Nigerian-American writer and producer. She is the head writer and co-executive producer of '' Insecure'' and was also an executive producer for the HBO special ''2 Dope Queens''. Aniobi signed a two-year overall deal with HBO in 20 ...
, and
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, she ...
's
Hello Sunshine. In 2019, Chandra stars in Surina and Mel, a show about two American-born South Asian women living in New York City figuring out adulthood. In 2020, Variety announced Chandra was joining the cast of the
Chris Blake
Chris Blake is a Welsh international lawn and indoor bowler.
Bowls career
He won a silver medal in the fours at the 1996 World Outdoor Bowls Championship in Adelaide.
He won the 1994 triples title and 2001 pairs title at the Welsh National Bo ...
quarantine comedy,
Distancing Socially. The film was shot at the height of the
Covid-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in 2020, using remote technologies and the iPhone 11. The film was acquired and released by Cinedigm in October 2021.
In 2022, Chandra starred in the movie ''Lie Hard,'' a comedy about a pathological liar who borrows $4 million from a crime syndicate to purchase a mansion in order to impress his girlfriend's wealthy parents.
In January 2023, Chandra voice acted as Mira in Meet Cute's series, ''The Lonely Wife.'' The story follows Mira, who is forced to take a hard look at her marriage when her husband’s childhood friend crashes with them for the weekend.
Personal
Chandra is also a co-founder of Hospital for Hope, a non-profit providing healthcare services in rural India.
She is also a trained pianist.
Chandra is a 2nd degree black belt in
Shotokan Karate
is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throug ...
and a two-time bronze medalist in the Pan American games, where she represented the United States in
sparring
Sparring is a form of training common to many combat sports. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively ' free-form' fighting, with enough rules, customs, or agreements to minimize injuries. By extension, argumentative debate ...
as part of the United States Junior National Karate Team in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
in 2000,
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
in 2001, and Orlando in 2002.
Filmography
Television
Film
References
External links
Official Website*
Times of India articleEconomic Times article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandra, Melanie
Living people
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actresses from Illinois
American people of Indian descent
American businesspeople
American film actresses
American actresses of Indian descent
American people of Malayali descent
Female models from Illinois
Stanford University alumni
21st-century American actresses
1984 births