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Template:Actor

Melissa Sagemiller (born June 1, 1974) is an American television and film actress. She is known for her performances in films Get Over It (2001), Soul Survivors (2001), Sorority Boys (2003), The Clearing (2004), The Guardian (2006), and Mr. Woodcock (2007). Sagemiller also starred in television dramas Sleeper Cell (2005-06), and Raising the Bar (2008-09), and from 2010 to 2011 had the recurring role as A.D.A Gillian Hardwicke in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.. Sagemiller portrayed Detective Julie Willhite in one episode of Chicago Fire and in the first ever episode of Chicago P.D., in which her character was killed off.

Biography

Sagemiller was born in Washington, D.C. to a political activist mother and a professional American football player father. She attended Georgetown Day School. Her entry into the performing arts was at age 3 when began studying tap dance, ballet, jazz dance and modern dance. She made her stage debut in To Kill a Mockingbird when she was 9 years old and soon after she became a regular on her local stage. At 14, however, acting took a backseat to modeling after Sagemiller was scouted by Eileen Ford in a jewelry shop. She eventually left modeling to take an undergraduate degree in Art History at the University of Virgina.

Shortly after graduation, she decided to return to acting full-time, and studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory, New York University's Stonestreet Studio and at Michael Howard Studios. Sagemiller appeared in Movieline magazine in August 2001. In November 2001, Sagemiller appeared in Gear magazine. In her early career, she starred on a number of teen films, like Get Over It and Sorority Boys, and was lead actress in 2002 box office bomb thriller Soul Survivors.

On television, Sagemiller portrayed the character Michelle Ernhardt in the TNT series Raising the Bar from 2008 to 2009. After that series was cancelled, Sagemiller joined Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in a recurring role as ADA Gillian Hardwicke. Sagemiller was featured in ten episodes of the 12th season of SVU. She was replaced in the 13th season by Stephanie March and Diane Neal. In 2013, she was cast as Julie Willhite, a lead on Chicago Fire spinoff Chicago P.D., but left during pre-production. [1]

Notes and Trivia

  • Sagemiller's height is 5' 6" (1.68 m).
  • Sagemiller's father played in the NFL for the New York Giants and Washington Redskins.
  • She shares a birthday with Marilyn Monroe.
  • Sagemiller attended Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC.
  • Her mother was Jimmy Carter's campaign finance manager.
  • Sagemiller became engaged in July 2006 to her Sleeper Cellco-star Alex Nesic after he proposed to her in the South of France. The couple eventually married and have one child.

External Links

References

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