In May 2012, she auditioned for the musical comedy-drama series Glee in New York at the Roundabout Theatre Company, singing a different song for each of her five auditions including: "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor, "King of Anything" by Sara Bareilles, a Colbie Caillat song, and several musical theatre pieces. 2012–2014: Rise to prominence with Glee and film roles īenoist in 2015 at the 6th Annual Thirst Project Gala She played Kelly in the 2011 Goodspeed Musicals theatrical production of The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown by Bree Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan at the Norma Terris Theatre. Afterwards, she made guest appearances on shows like Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Blue Bloods, Homeland, and The Good Wife, while attending college. Career 2008–2011: Early work īenoist's first film was Tennessee in 2008 along with singer Mariah Carey. While attending college, she played Millie Dilmount in an urban off-off-Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie and Rosalind in As You Like It at the Theresa Lang Theatre. She graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts in 2011. She initially attended Marymount Manhattan College for the BFA musical theatre program but in her sophomore year, she switched majors to theatre, due to her admiration for 19th-century Russian plays. She graduated from Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, in 2007, and then moved to New York City to pursue a career in musical theatre. In 2006, The Denver Post named Benoist one of Colorado's five "Can't Miss Kids". Instead of attending high school graduation parties, she performed the play Evita with other cast members at the former Country Dinner Playhouse.
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She performed locally in a number of theatrical productions, including A Month in the Country, Cinderella, A Chorus Line, and Bye Bye Birdie at the Town Hall Arts Center, a professional theatre located in the Denver metro area. Īs a teenager, Benoist performed anonymously at Disneyland in various medleys of musical songs for three summers with the Academy of Theatre Arts, a musical theatre school she was attending, located in Littleton, Colorado, run by Paul Dwyer and Alann Worley. When she was four years old, her aunt put her in a church play she was directing after that, she began doing community children's theatre in her hometown. She started dance classes at the age of three, focusing on jazz, ballet, and tap. Growing up in Colorado, a large part of her childhood was spent exploring national parks and immersing herself in nature. She was raised mostly by her mother in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, after her parents' separation. She has two sisters: Jessica, a novelist, and Kristina, an ecological scientist, and five half-siblings from her father's remarriage. Her paternal great-grandfather was of French descent. They divorced when she was thirteen years old.
2.2 2012–2014: Rise to prominence with Glee and film roles.On stage, Benoist made her Broadway debut in 2018 as Carole King in the jukebox musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
She also portrayed the wife of cult leader David Koresh on the Paramount Network miniseries Waco (2018). She rose to widespread prominence for portraying the title character on the CBS / CW superhero series Supergirl (2015–2021), along with related media in the Arrowverse franchise.īenoist's film appearances include the psychological drama Whiplash (2014), the comedy drama Danny Collins (2015), the crime comedy Band of Robbers (2015), the romantic Western The Longest Ride (2015), the action thriller Patriots Day (2016), the drama Lowriders (2016), and the comedy drama Sun Dogs (2017). Her first major role was Marley Rose on the Fox musical comedy drama Glee (2012–2014), where she was a series regular during the fifth season. Melissa Marie Benoist ( / b ə ˈ n ɔɪ s t/ bə- NOYST born October 4, 1988) is an American actress and singer.