Melissa Bergland plays Jenny Gross
Melissa Bergland makes her television acting debut
as Jenny Gross, a character she feels she was born to play.
"I'm very much like her and my best friend in real life -
Meredith - is very much like Bec," the 25-year-old says. "She's
tall, thin and beautiful. The experiences Jenny and Bec go through
are very much like what Meredith and I went though. But I like to
think I'm a bit cooler than her ... just a bit."
An only child, Melissa knew early on she was destined for a career
in show business. "I've been dancing since I was two-and-a-half,"
she says. "I was always like, 'Everyone look at me! I'm going to do
a play now. You all have to sit
there and be entertained.'"
A musical all-rounder, she started playing piano at four and flute
at the age of seven. She also sings and possesses a mezzo alto
vocal range. "I was a geek at high school but I was a left alone
geek," she says. "I really enjoyed it. I was never home before 8.30
every night as I was always doing extracurricular activities. I was
in two bands, two choirs and two orchestras."
Her parents - mum Kathy and her late father Brendon - were very
supportive of her theatrical pursuits. "Mum sewed on every sequin
on my outfits and dad is the one who started teaching me piano. He
played the guitar and sang; he was very musical."
Originally from Adelaide, she completed a Bachelor of Arts
(Honours) degree at Flinders University majoring in drama before
relocating to Melbourne to study at the Victorian College of the
Arts in 2007.
She then studied acting for six months in New York, where she was
run over by a car!
"I was on my bike and got side swiped by a taxi driver and broke my
hand. I had the worst three months of my life followed by the best
three months of my life."
After recovering from the accident, she secured an agent and
performed in the New York Community Festival's production of Fat
Camp.
When she returned home to Australia, she toured her self-devised
cabaret show Blue Eyed Soul at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.
She was in the final stages of Hairspray The Musical auditions when
she was asked to audition for Winners & Losers.
"My brief was to dress daggy," she recalls. "So I went in with my
own glasses. I'm blind as a bat. I wore what looked like an
oversized tent and track pants covered in cat hair. I got a call a
couple of days later saying, 'Congratulations you've got the
role.'"
For Melissa, scoring the role of Jenny is a dream come true. "It's
daunting and overwhelming but fabulously fun at the same
time."
She admits the journey to get this point hasn't been easy. "There's
been a lot of knock backs and setbacks. A lot of, 'You're not right
because...' In many ways Jenny is the perfect character because
I've been hired because of the way I look and the way I am."
In her spare time, Melissa enjoys watching live music, seeing
movies and flying kites. "Some of my best friends in Melbourne are
in a band called "Society of Beggars"- They're just starting out.
They're like, 'Wear one of our shirts on the show!'"
Melissa is a big fan of actresses Ginnifer Goodwin and Amanda
Seyfried who star in her favourite TV show Big Love.
"I'm really into new wave actors; actors who have been chipping
away at little roles and are now starting to come into their
own."
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Buy my mum a new house. The house my mum lives in is
the one my dad built. She's there by herself and cracks have begun
appearing. If I won the money, it'd be nice to knock that one down
and build something new. And I would probably fund the release of
my friends' album.
