Winner of numerous Youth in Film awards for her work, Melissa received a CableAce nomination for Best Actress for playing the title role in the popular Nickelodeon comedy series Clarissa Explains It All. Her many television credits also include the Emmy Award-winning movie Christmas Snow and the films Twisted Desire, Silencing Mary and Two Came Back. The latter two were made by her production company, Hartbreak Films. She guest-starred on the series The Equalizer, Are You Afraid of the Dark and Touched by an Angel.

Melissa also appeared in the teen romantic-comedy hit Can't Hardly Wait. Her stage credits include her Broadway debut opposite Martin Sheen in The Crucible, and the Circle Repertory's productions of Beside Herself and Peter Hedges' Imagining Brad. Soon thereafter, she was invited to become the youngest member of the Circle Repertory Lab Company.