Malese Jow

Biography

Elizabeth Melise Jow (born February 18, 1991), known professionally as Malese Jow (and later just Melise), is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Geena Fabiano on the Nickelodeon sitcom Unfabulous, Lucy Stone on the Nickelodeon musical sitcom Big Time Rush and as Anna, a teenage vampire on The CW's fantasy drama The Vampire Diaries. She starred as Julia Yeung in the short-lived CW science fiction romantic drama Star-Crossed. Jow starred as Mareth Ravenlock in season two of The Shannara Chronicles. She voiced Kate Cha / Dupli-Kate in the Amazon Prime Video animated series Invincible.

== Early life == Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jow moved to California with her mother Lanae Tillery Jow, sister Makenna Jow, and brothers Jensen and Braden Jow when she was nine years old. Jow is of Chinese and Cherokee descent. As a child, she would often sing the national anthem at local baseball games.

== Career == When she was six years old, Jow appeared on Barney & Friends and Dellaventura. She had a co-starring role in the Nickelodeon sitcom Unfabulous as Geena Fabiano, one of the best friends of Emma Roberts' character Addie Singer. The show ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2007 and earned Jow several Young Artist Award nominations. When Unfabulous ended in 2007, Jow co-starred in the film Bratz: The Movie as Quinn. She has guest-starred on the shows Wizards of Waverly Place, The Young and the Restless, iCarly, The Secret Life of the American Teenager and the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana and co-starred in the 2009 science fiction comedy Aliens in the Attic. In 2010, Jow appeared in the first season of The CW fantasy drama The Vampire Diaries. She played Anna, a vampire. Jow briefly re-appeared in the third season. That same year, Jow co-starred in the fantasy romance film You're So Cupid! as Megan, and the drama film The Social Network as Alice Cantwell. She also guest-starred on an episode of TNT crime comedy-drama Leverage. Jow went on to star in the Nickelodeon action/science fiction sitcom The Troop as Cadence Nash.

In 2011, Jow began a recurring role in the second season of the Nickelodeon musical sitcom Big Time Rush as Lucy Stone, an aspiring rock musician and a brief love interest of Kendall Knight (Kendall Schmidt) and later on becomes the love interest of James Diamond (James Maslow). She guest-starred in the ABC mystery comedy-drama Desperate Housewives as Violet. In 2012, Jow starred in The CW drama pilot Shelter, produced by J. J. Abrams and Mark Schwahn, where she played Morgan. It was not picked up by the network. In January 2013, Jow confirmed her role in the crime comedy Plastic. That same month, it was also announced that Jow would reprise her role as Lucy Stone on Big Time Rush in the fourth and final season. In February 2013, Jow was revealed to be the new host of The Vampire Diaries side show, TVD Rehash (Re#ash) replacing previous host Arielle Kebbel. Later that month, it was announced that Jow would be joining the CW science fiction romantic drama pilot Oxygen, as Julia Yeung, a girl who has an illness which may be cured by aliens. In May 2013, Oxygen was picked up and retitled Star-Crossed. The series was part of the 2013–14 mid season schedule. In August 2013, production began for Star-Crossed. The show ran for one season from February 17 to May 12, 2014. In 2014, Jow was in the television movie Presumed Dead in Paradise and played Madison Ashland. On October 27, 2014, she was announced to have a recurring role as Linda Park on the CW's superhero drama The Flash. In 2015, Jow was listed in Maxim's Hot 10. On August 25, 2015, Jow was announced to be reprising her role as Linda Park. In the second season's fifth episode, "The Darkness and the Light," Jow played villainess Doctor Light, an alternate universe version of Linda Park. On February 2, 2017, it was announced Jow would be playing Mareth Ravenlock on MTV's The Shannara Chronicles. On NCIS: Los Angeles, she played Jennifer Kim, who is the illegitimate daughter of late NCIS Assistant Director Owen Granger (Miguel Ferrer). In September 2017, it was revealed that Jow would be playing Daya in the upcoming Escape Plan: The Extractors movie. Jow has begun filming a new feature film as of November 2017 titled I Wrote This For You. Jow has semi-retired from acting as of 2025, choosing voiceover projects such as Invincible. The series, based on the comic book series of the same name, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2021 over on screen work. She also produces content for Instagram involving food.

== Filmography ==

=== Film ===

=== Television ===

=== Video game ===