Melissa's childhood was marked by an early start to her acting career, which began at the tender age of four with a commercial for a bathtub toy called Splashy. Her mother, Paula Hart, has been her devoted agent from the very beginning, guiding her through the ups and downs of the entertainment industry. Melissa is the eldest of eight siblings, six of whom are her sisters from her mother's second marriage, namely Trisha Hart, Elizabeth Hart, Emily Hart, Alexandra Hart-Gilliams, Samantha Hart, and Mackenzie Lee Hart, who is the only sibling to not appear on Melissa's popular TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Her only brother is Brian Hart.
Melissa's early beginnings in the world of theater saw her perform in two plays as the youngest member of New York's esteemed Circle Repertory Lab Company. These productions included "Beside Herself" in 1989, starring the accomplished Lois Smith and William Hurt, as well as "Imagining Brad" in 1990. She also had the opportunity to tread the boards of Broadway with the National Actors Theater production of "The Crucible," under the guidance of the renowned Martin Sheen, where she served as understudy for three of the children in the play.
Melissa cites the iconic Shirley Temple and Audrey Hepburn as her earliest acting inspirations, and to this day, she continues to collect memorabilia of the former. With her sights set on balancing her acting career with her academic pursuits, Melissa has been attending New York University for the past few years. Currently, she resides in Connecticut, where she is pursuing her passions and making a name for herself in the entertainment industry.
