
My name is
MELISSA MARS
Mars, like the planet I may come from

Why?
Why am I who I am?
An actor, a singer-songwriter, a writer, and many other -ers: photographer, graphic designer, filmmaker….? Notice that all those -ers have one thing in common: they all relate to art & expression. The order doesn’t really matter, they’re all part of me.
So, asking me why is like asking why do you breathe? Nobody asks that question. We know that breathing is the only way to survive. Well, there you go: I have to act, I have to sing, I have to write… to survive, I can’t live otherwise, that’s the air to my lungs, that’s that thing that makes my heart beat.
What if I stop doing it? --------------------------------- flat line.
I am an artist, because that is the only way I can feel that I exist.
I am an artist, because that is the only way I can feel that I exist.
I am an artist, because that is the only way I can feel some sort of bliss.
I am an artist, because that’s the only way I can live in peace.
To say that I was born to be an artist might sound pretentious, but I was raised by a single mother... an absent father I met later, when I was 9, and who vanished a second time from my life when I turned 18 (I think he likes multiples of 9s). It did create a dark and heavy context, but also a CHOICE:
I could go South, figuratively [or literally, I was born and raised in the South of France, Marseilles] and drown in my pain and dwell in my scars,
OR… I could turn my experience into songs, stories & screenplays, and make it my well of inspiration.
“Papa M’aime Pas” (translate: Daddy doesn’t love me) was the title of my first single released with Universal Music France. [In French, it sounds much more musical and percussive (pronounce Pa-Pa-Mem-Pa).]
We have unwillingly been programmed by the absence of our fathers to feel unworthy, not enough and unlovable.
I did a whole bunch of other things that are listed in my bio, in the WHO section, things that one could qualify as successful milestones (I, personally, don’t consider success as being a hit or awards (and I’d love to discuss in a deeper conversation about what success really is, but for a bio and on a website, you sort of need to highlight those #1s… and big names to give you that clout and credit, right? So, that’s checked off. And, by the way, you’ll also notice that the bio is written in the 3rd person (that’s how it works in the business, to make journalists' lives easier ;)))). All parenthesis closed, before I dropped all those names and highlights, I wanted to share that personal story (and I have a lot more in stock as far as stories, for example, how I became a singer by accident… but those stories will find more room soon on my blog of chronicles).
Every time I create, I WIN.
I just hope I can inspire everyone like me, with a mommy but no daddy, (or vice versa). It seems that we have unwillingly been programmed by the absence of our fathers to feel unworthy, not enough and unlovable. It is like a poisonus thought and feeling, it feels like a terrible drug addiction. It is a daily battle that resets every morning. I may fail sometimes, but every day I rise and go to my computer, my colored pens, my mic or my sides, every time I act, sing or write, every time I turn my reality into a form of art, every single time I create, I WIN. So let’s win together. Let’s remind ourselves (not our fathers, but ourselves) that WE ARE WORTHY, WE ARE ENOUGH & WE ARE LOVABLE.
Below are some example of things I did, I’m proud of, and hope that can give you a kick, a spark of inspiration to BE & FEEL WORTHY.

Who?
Because somehow, we must speak in the third person... (it makes journalists' life easier... true that)... below is my third-person bio, but above - if you skipped it - there is my first-person introduction. ;)
International award-winning actress, singer and writer, Melissa Mars received major notice after appearing alongside John Travolta in From Paris With Love produced by Luc Besson (Lucy), winning a best supporting actress award in The Cabining, multiple best actress awards for her “heartfelt, spectacular and vulnerable” performance in the drama Polly and having her song “Beautiful” picked up by Coca-Cola Music for their "52 Songs of Happiness" worldwide music compilation.
A singer by accident...
Mars started acting at the age of 13, but she is well-known in France for her pop music career. She became a singer by accident: after being called to personally meet the renowned French Filmmaker André Téchiné, to discuss his next project (he had launched Juliette Binoche's career among others), the absence of chemistry with the director killed all Mars' dreams, but led to her encounter with a renowned French songwriter and producer (who had launched Patricia Kaas and other popstars' careers). After a few months of doubts and fears to accept life's calling, she recorded demo songs, signed with EMI, and then switched to Polydor-Universal Music, whom she released 3 solo albums with, toured and was praised in the press and described as "singular, fairy and rock n’fun" (W magazine, Elle, Madame Figaro, Le Monde…). She has been featured on many duets, including "1980”, a hit that reached #5 in the charts. She is also well known for her leading role in the smash hit musical Mozart the Rock Opera, that sold more than 1,500,000 tickets, directed by Olivier Dahan (La Vie en Rose), and for which she received with the lead cast a best ensemble NRJ award and a diamond record.
Multi-talented & Self-taught
Mars is a multi-talented, self-taught artist, when she’s not on set or in the studio, Melissa dedicates her time to her other passions: photography, graphic design, filmmaking and screenwriting.
She started writing and filming at the age of 13 anything and everything that caught her eye and imagination until 2007, when she officially directed her first short film. She was the creative director for her own music videos (Love Machine, Army of Love…) produced by Universal Music.
Mars has also held an exhibition in Paris which was a series of photographs called Children of China to promote children’s rights, the exhibition was praised in both Elle magazine and Metro Daily.
Currently settled in New-York, Mars travels between Los Angeles and Paris, balancing her worlds of music and film.
She can recently be seen on Amazon Prime, in the original comedy Puzzled, which features “Hors La Loi” an original song of hers in the opening credits. As well as the horror thriller Texas Zombie Wars Titan Base, the multi-awarded science fiction feature Virtual Revolution.
Mars had her American TV debut on Lifetime in Deadly Delusions, a thriller alongside Haylie Duff (Napoleon Dynamite) and Teri Polo (Meet the Parents, The Fosters...).
She is rewriting her first feature film, a romantic comedy, in addition to a separate high concept dystopian story she’s been developing since the end of 2018 that unexpectedly and strangely reminds us of our current world in 2020…
To be continued...
