Melissa O'Neil

Early life and education

Melissa O'Neil was born in Calgary, Alberta to a Chinese Canadian mother from Hong Kong and an Irish-Canadian father. O'Neil attended Lester B. Pearson High School in Calgary, Alberta, where she performed in musicals, played rugby and was on the basketball team.

Career

''Canadian Idol''

In early 2005, while in high school, O'Neil auditioned for the third season of Canadian Idol. The judges were impressed by her vocals, and she made it through to the top 100 round. On the first day, she sang the song "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride a cappella and again impressed the judges; but, on the final day of competition, she forgot the words to her chosen song and froze. Nevertheless, the judges were still so impressed by her singing abilities that she continued to the top 32. After scoring the highest number of votes in her semi-final group, again with "Concrete Angel", O'Neil was granted a place in the final 10 of the contest.

Although she was highly praised by the judges, O'Neil suffered huge setbacks in both the Top 10 and Top 9 weeks of the finals, as she was voted in both the bottom three and bottom two, respectively. Shocked by this, the judges urged viewers to vote for contestants like Melissa, who clearly had the best vocal abilities. From then on, O'Neil never fell back into the bottom three after delivering consistently praised performances, with judge Zack Werner declaring that she was "a threat to win the whole thing". On September 7, 2005, O'Neil made it into the final two of the competition, alongside Rex Goudie, and after more performances, judge Werner stated that the headlines of the next day's newspapers would be "The King [Kalan Porter] is dead, long live the Queen."

Singer

Immediately after her win on Canadian Idol, O'Neil received a congratulatory phone call from the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. She then signed a recording contract with Sony BMG Canada and released her first single, "Alive", which hit stores on October 4, 2005, and debuted at number one on the Canadian singles chart, a position it held for four weeks. The single went on to be certified four-times platinum by the CRIA.

On November 22, 2005, O'Neil's self-titled debut album, Melissa O'Neil, was released on Sony and debuted at number sixteen on the Canadian albums chart. The second single from her album, "Let It Go," was released in late 2005 and peaked at number seven on the singles chart. On February 7, 2006, O'Neil embarked on her first solo tour in North Bay, Ontario, named the Let It Go Tour after her second single. Her support act was her Canadian Idol runner-up, Rex Goudie. The third single release from O'Neil's album was "Speechless", which peaked at number thirty-one. In March 2006, her debut album was certified gold by the CRIA for 50,000 units shipped, and her first single "Alive" was covered by Becki Ryan in the movie Flicka. On September 16, 2006 O'Neil returned to the Canadian Idol stage during the grand finale of its fourth season. Here, she was surprised with the certified-gold-presentation disc of her debut album.

In 2007, O'Neil was nominated for a Juno Award as New Artist of the Year, alongside Neverending White Lights, Tomi Swick, Patrick Watson, and Eva Avila (the latter, her Canadian Idol successor); however, Swick took home the award.

In 2009, O'Neil became the lead vocalist for the Toronto funk band God Made Me Funky.

As described by Glenn Sumi, of NOW Toronto, "After winning the third season of Canadian Idol... O'Neil released a best-selling disc and then promptly began doing musical theatre, with roles in Dirty Dancing, High School Musical and the acclaimed Stratford production of Jesus Christ Superstar."

Musical theatre

In the Toronto, Ontario, production of Dirty Dancing, O'Neil was a featured singer. O'Neil's appearance as Martha/Maid by the Fire during the 2011 season's Jesus Christ Superstar was her Stratford Shakespeare Festival debut.

O'Neil was featured as a lead in the Stage West Calgary production of "British Invasion" alongside former lead singer of The Guess Who, Terry Hatty, and made an appearance in Camelot. She won the Dora Award for Outstanding Female Performance for that role.

In March 2012, O'Neil made her Broadway debut in Jesus Christ Superstar, where she played Martha, Maid by the Fire and worked as understudy to the role of Mary Magdalene.

In 2013, O'Neil was promoted to play Éponine.

In March 2014, O'Neil returned to Broadway in a revival of Les Misérables, where she was a member of the ensemble and worked as understudy for the roles of Éponine and Fantine.

Acting

O'Neil has been acting since 2015. She has had recurring roles in the 2015 CBC TV drama called This Life that was set in Montreal, the Cole Hauser TV crime series Rogue, and the musical drama web series, Lost Generation, which was set in Berlin. The show was originally called Pulse and had a book and score written by Duncan Sheik.

In December 2014, O'Neil was cast in the starring role of Two / Rebecca / Portia Lin, on the Syfy TV series space opera Dark Matter. It was a role she played from 2015 to 2017, for three seasons of the show.

In 2018, O'Neil played the role of Suki in The CW procedural crime drama iZombie created by Rob Thomas and had another recurring role in the thriller Condor, a TV remake of Three Days of the Condor.

In October 2018, O'Neil was cast in the role of LAPD Officer Lucy Chen and Sava Wu in the ABC television police drama series The Rookie, where she plays a fellow rookie police officer opposite Nathan Fillion.

Personal life

O'Neil's maternal grandfather gave her a Chinese name Ao Shimin (Traditional Chinese: 奧詩敏, Simplified Chinese: 奥诗敏, Pinyin: Ào Shī mǐn), which means ladylike. At the time when she was competing in Canadian Idol, O'Neil was said to be able to speak Cantonese, but not fluently.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Other appearances

Filmography

Video Game roles

Theater

• 2007–2009: Dirty Dancing
• High School Musical at the Drayton Theatre Festival
• Country Legends at the Drayton Theatre Festival
• 2010: British Invasion at Stage West (Calgary)
• 2010: Beauty and the Beast: The Savagely Silly Family Musical as Bella at Elgin Theatre (Calgary)
• 2011: Stratford Shakespeare Festival: Jesus Christ Superstar & Camelot
• 2012: Jesus Christ Superstar as Martha, Maid by the Fire and Mary Magdalene (understudy) at the Neil Simon Theatre (New York)
• 2013-14: Les Misérables: Princess of Wales Theatre
• 2014–2016: Les Misérables Ensemble and Fantine and Eponine (understudy) at the Imperial Theatre (New York)

Awards and honors

• 2007: Juno Award, New Artist of the Year (nominee)
• 2014: Dora Award for Outstanding Female Performance for role of Éponine in Les Misérables

References

References

1. "Melissa O'Neil".
2. (15 October 2018). "The Rookie star Melissa O'Neil reflects on Canadian Idol". Canada.com.
3. (20 May 2022). "ABC Celebrates #AANHPIHeritageMonth with The Rookie's Melissa O'Neil".
4. Cardoso, Paul. (2022-07-13). "Melissa O'Neil History, Personal Life, Career, Husband, Biography".
5. "Idol chit-chat" by Chris Simon, ''[[Barrie Examiner. The Barrie Examiner]]'' (9 Dec, 2005). Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 352705409
6. (29 June 2015). "Calgary actress Melissa O'Neil charts new path with sci-fi series". Calgary Herald.
7. "A rookie no more: Calgary's Melissa O'Neil reflects on seven years in hit police procedural" by Eric Volmers, ''[[Calgary Herald]]'' (Online) (23 Jan 2025) Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 3159429470
8. "Calgarian aims for top 10 spot: Teen almost missed out because of basketball game" by Alexandra Burroughs, ''[[Calgary Herald]]'' (5 July 2005) [Final Edition] Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 244881512
9. "Calgary teen Melissa O'Neil becomes first female winner of Canadian Idol" by Andrea Baillie, ''[[Whitehorse Star]]'' (15 Sep 2005) Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 362331005
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11. (2005-09-15). "Calgary's Melissa O'Neil is first female Canadian Idol". The Globe and Mail.
12. "Rex Goudie can smile in defeat: Placed second on Canadian Idol" by Brian Callahan, ''Orillia Packet & Times'' (16 Sep 2005) [Final Edition] Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 351677766
13. "No escaping Idol worship" by Alex Strachan, ''[[Times Colonist]]'' (17 Sep 2006) [Final Edition] Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 348075340
14. "Quebec teen Eva Avila crowned new Canadian Idol".
15. . (February 8, 2018). ["Junos—Nominees & Winners 2007—New Artist of the Year—View all Nominees"](https://junoawards.ca/nominees/?nomination-year=2007). *JunoAwards.CA*.
16. . (November 8, 2019). ["News Archive: Furtado Wins Big at Junos"](https://celebrityaccess.com/caarchive/furtado-wins-big-at-junos/). *CelebrityAccess.com*.
17. (12 September 2009). "God Made Me Funky on ET Canada!". ET Canada.
18. (January 2010). "God Made Melissa Funky: A Chat with Melissa O'Neil". GayCalgary Magazine.
19. (3 October 2013). "Interview: Melissa O'Neil—Actor, Les Misérables". NOW Toronto.
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21. "God made them funky and musical stars" by Brian Kelly, ''[[The Sault Star]]'' (27 March 2015). Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 2221655420
22. "Standout singers capture essence of British Invasion; Retrospective highlights U.K. imports over 40 years" by Dan St Yves, ''[[Calgary Herald. The Calgary Herald]]'' (28 Nov, 2009). Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 243936984
23. Ferri, Josh. (February 13, 2013). "It's Official! Ramin Karimloo, Melissa O'Neil & More Will Head to the Barricades in Toronto's Les Miserables".
24. Jones, Kenneth. (February 13, 2013). "Toronto's New Les Miz Will Star Ramin Karimloo, Genevieve Leclerc, Samantha Hill, Lisa Horner, Cliff Saunders". Playbill.com.
25. Cameron, Kelly. (February 13, 2013). "Les Miserables, Once, Aladdin & More Set for Mirvish's 50th Season".
26. Gioia, Michael. (February 2, 2014). "Toronto Production of Les Misérables, Starring Ramin Karimloo, Ends Feb. 2". Playbill.com.
27. (24 June 2014). "Dora Awards 2014: A List Of All The Winners!". BroadwayWorld.
28. LesMis.com Staff. (July 14, 2015). "Les Misérables Cast & Creatives: Melissa O'Neil". LesMis.com.
29. (26 September 2013). "Les Miserables role a 'dream come true' for Melissa O'Neil". Toronto Star.
30. (2 December 2013). "Casting Now Complete for 2014 Broadway Revival of ''Les Misérables''". Playbill.
31. (2 June 2016). "Katie Findlay to Star in Go90 Musical Series 'Pulse'". The Hollywood Reporter.
32. (18 December 2014). "Melissa O'Neil, Marc Bendavid Board Syfy's 'Dark Matter'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
33. Shoaff, Brandon. (2022-05-10). "The iZombie Character You Likely Forgot The Rookie's Melissa O'Neil Played".
34. (8 February 2018). "'The Rookie': Melissa O'Neil To Co-Star In Nathan Fillion's ABC Light Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood.
35. (12 October 2018). "Green in Blue: Calgary's Melissa O'Neil hits the mean streets of L.A. as newbie cop in The Rookie". Calgary Herald.
36. ((51.ca Staff)). (September 23, 2005). "加国新偶像有中国血统 [The New Idol of Canada Has Chinese Descent]". 51.ca.
37. "Perspective from an Idol's pedestal; Melissa O'Neil's star is rising thanks to a popular little talent show" by Andrea McAuliffe, ''[[Telegraph-Journal. The Telegraph-Journal]]'' (23 Feb, 2006). Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 423247207
38. "What's up with the Idols?" by Sandra Sperounes, ''[[Ottawa Citizen. The Ottawa Citizen]]'' (24 Dec, 2005) [Final Edition]. Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 240906515
39. (June 29, 2022). "Crafting the Storyline of Tom Clancy's The Division's Faye Lau".
40. (17 December 2010). "Bella rocks a yellow silk chiffon cocktail dress". Toronto Star.
41. (2012). "Jesus Christ Superstar".
42. (2014). "Les Misérables".
43. "Nominee O'Neil feels 'undeserving'" by Sean Myers, with files from Jeanette Stewart, ''[[Calgary Herald. The Calgary Herald]]'' (1 April 2007) [Final Edition]. Retrieved from {{ProQuest. 245501039