Melissa De Sousa is an American actress. She made her big screen debut playing the leading role in the 1998 comedy film Ride. She starred as Shelby in the 1999 romantic comedy-drama film The Best Man and later reprised her role in its 2013 sequel The Best Man Holiday and the 2022 Peacock series The Best Man: The Final Chapters.

Born and raised in New York City by Panamanian parents,^[3] Melissa De Sousa attended the High School of Performing Arts as a ballet major,^[2] and began her career as a principal dancer with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Company before transitioning into acting.^{[citation needed]}

De Sousa made her television debut appearing in an episode of television drama series The Trials of Rosie O'Neill in 1992 and later that year starred in CBS Schoolbreak Special episode "Words Up!". She later made guest-starring appearances on Living Single, Getting By, Silk Stalkings, The Sinbad Show, Married with Children, ER and The Wayans Bros.. In 1994, De Sousa portrayed drug-addicted actress Neely O'Hara in the syndicated soap opera Valley of the Dolls based on Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel Valley of the Dolls.^[2] In 1998 she starred opposite Damon Wayans in the short-lived Fox sitcom Damon, and made her big screen debut playing the female leading role in the comedy film Ride. The film received mixed reviews from critics.^[4][5]

In 1999, De Sousa starred as Shelby in the comedy-drama film The Best Man receiving NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for her performance.^[6] The film received positive reviews from critics.^[7] The following year she appeared in the action comedy film Miss Congeniality, and the prison drama film Lockdown.^[8] In 2001 she starred in the independent comedy film 30 Years to Life.^[9] On television, she was regular cast member in the Fox drama series, The Street, the UPN sitcom Second Time Around (2004–2005), and the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines (2011). She also had recurring roles in the UPN sitcom One on One from 2002 to 2003, and the VH1 comedy-drama Single Ladies in 2015.^[10] In 2006. De Sousa starred opposite Matthew Perry in the TNT original movie The Ron Clark Story, which garnered an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Made For Television Movie. She guest-starred on Castle, Shameless, Criminal Minds and Elementary.

In 2013, De Sousa reprised her role as Shelby in the comedy-drama film The Best Man Holiday. It was a commercial success, grossing $72.8 million worldwide on a production budget of $17 million, and received positive reviews from critics.^[11][12] In 2018 she played the leading role in the Urban Movie Channel comedy-drama series, Ladies of the Law.^[10] The following year she had recurring role as Mirta Herrera in the Showtime comedy series On Becoming a God in Central Florida. In 2021, De Sousa had a recurring role in the final season of CW superhero series Black Lightning as Police Chief Ana Lopez.^[13][14] Later that year she joined the cast of Fox prime time soap opera, Our Kind of People.^[15] In 2022 she reprised her role as Shelby in the comedy-drama miniseries The Best Man: The Final Chapters which streamed on Peacock.^[16]

De Sousa currently resides in New York.

• Melissa De Sousa at IMDb