MELISSA BRUDER studied acting with David Mamet and William H. Macy starting in 1983 and went on to become a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company. She is co-author of A Practical Handbook for the Actor. She has featured in numerous Atlantic Theater Company productions, including David Mamet's adaptation of The Three Sisters, Reckless by Craig Lucas, and Howard Korder's Boys' Life at Lincoln Center Theater. She holds a BFA in Theater from New York University and is a graduate of the Stella Adler Conservatory.

Melissa has been living in Sydney since 1998, teaching Practical Aesthetics and working as a performance consultant/dramaturg/acting coach on various film and television projects, including Tomorrow: When the War Began (Feature Film, dir. Stuart Beattie), My Place (ABC), Frank & Jerry (Feature Film, dir. Nick McGee), and Martha's New Coat (SBS, dir. Rachel Ward). She has also worked as an American accent/dialect coach both privately and on numerous theatre and film productions including the feature film Traveling Light, and Steven Sewell's Myth, Propaganda & Disaster in Nazi Germany & Contemporary America at the Griffin Theatre.