Melonie Diaz

Melonie Diaz was an American actress born on April 25, 1984 in New York City, New York. Diaz became interested in acting through the not-for-profit social service agency Henry Street Settlement, and attended the Professional Performing Arts School for high school. After graduating (at which point she had already made her acting debut), Diaz briefly attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. She would finish her film production degree after working in show business for over a decade. Long before then, however, she made her film debut in "Double Whammy" (2001), a theatrical movie turned direct-to-video release. Diaz made her television debut in the pilot episode of a short-lived courtroom drama, "Queens Supreme" (CBS, 2003) and appeared in an episode of "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010) in 2003. She landed a role in the skateboarding film "Lords of Dogtown" in 2005 and starred in Michel Gondry's "Be Kind Rewind" (2008) with Jack Black and Mos Def. Diaz returned to TV with a three-part appearance on "Nip/Tuck" (FX, 2003-2010) for its final season. But it was in Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale Station" (2013) that Diaz, as Sophina, found her breakout role alongside Michael B. Jordan, also in his career-making moment. She appeared in an episode of "Girls" (HBO, 2012-17) in 2014 and played Meg in "Ralphie," the first episode of Jay and Mark Duplass' anthology series "Room 104" (HBO, 2017- ). 2018 was a big year for Diaz. She appeared in action comedy "Gringo" with David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, and Joel Edgerton and landed a role in "The First Purge," the fourth installment in the satirical horror franchise. But Diaz received the most media attention for her casting in the "Charmed" reboot (The CW, 2018- ), based on the cult classic CW show of the same name. Diaz played Mel, one of the three "charmed" sisters to which the title refers.