Biography
Melissa De Sousa is an American actress born in New York City on 25 September 1967. She trained as a ballet dancer at the High School of Performing Arts and began her career as a principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company before moving into acting.
De Sousa made her feature film debut in Ride (1998). She received a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for her role as Shelby in The Best Man (1999) and reprised the part in The Best Man Holiday (2013). In 2000 she appeared as Karen 'New York' in Miss Congeniality.
On television she has been a series regular in Reed Between the Lines (2011) and has recurred in Black Lightning (2018) as Chief Ana Lopez. Guest appearances include episodes of Criminal Minds, Shameless, Castle, Elementary and ER.
