Photography by Green Otter Photo & Design
About Marissa…
Marissa Ghavami (they/she) is an Iranian-American, queer artist, advocate and creator based in New York City. (Local hires include Los Angeles, CA, Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, Louisville, KY and Southern FL.) In March of 2024, they starred as Irene in the U.S. Debut workshop production of Paco Bezerra’s international hit, two-hander play The Little Pony at Torn Page (located in the historic home of Rip Torn and Geraldine Page in the heart of Chelsea NYC). “Marissa Ghavami embodies Irene’s outward practicality and inner turmoil with an aching sadness. Before the play concludes they deliver several sweeping emotional monologues that nearly stop the breath in the room.” - Austin Fimmano, Plays To See. On stage in 2023, they played Khalilah, opposite Tony Winner KO (Karen Olivo), in a workshop of Siluetas, a new musical, directed by Pierre Jean Gonzalez and part of the Latiné Musical Theatre Lab’s 4xLatiné Off-Broadway. Also in 2023, they starred as Jessie in Divine Riot’s Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler.
Marissa’s Film and Television highlights include starring in the feature film The Gift of Christmas, alongside Academy Award Nominee Bruce Davison, and roles in Paramount’s theatrically released feature film Not Fade Away, with Emmy Winner James Gandolfini, and on CBS’s Without A Trace; as well as singing on NBC’s It’s Showtime at the Apollo. Marissa has also sung at Birdland (alongside Academy Award Winner and Tony Nominee Ariana DeBose), Joe’s Pub (alongside Tony Nominee L Morgan Lee) and 54 Below. Voiceover, Commercial and Print highlights include Audible, McDonald's, Ford, JCPenney, Belvedere, PepsiCo, Girl Scout Cookies and KFC.
Marissa co-produced the feature film Mass, written and directed by Fran Kranz, starring Emmy Winners Ann Dowd and Martha Plimpton, Tony Winner Reed Birney and Jason Isaacs. Mass premiered at Sundance, was acquired by Bleecker Street, had a theatrical release, won the Robert Altman Award, was a Gotham, Critics Choice and BAFTA nominee and is now streaming. They produced and co-wrote the short film Silk, directed by John Magaro (Past Lives, Carol, The Big Short), an Official Selection at the Academy Award Qualifying Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival, among others.
Click here to read full review.
Marissa is the Founding Executive + Artistic Director of the nonprofit Healing TREE (Trauma Resources, Education & Entertainment). They are a national public speaker, a healing trauma coach, specializing in working with artists, and a trauma consultant for productions. They are a Queer Writer Fellow at Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing and an Artists Striving To End Poverty (now Arts Ignite) Fellow and participant in the Artist As Citizen Conference at Juilliard. They are a Founding Company Member of Divine Riot, a new theatre and film company that defies convention.
Marissa trained as an actor at the William Esper Studio under the renowned, late Bill Esper. They took ongoing scene study classes with Karl Bury and Advanced On Camera with Bob Krakower. They trained as a singer with the acclaimed Seth Riggs, Liz Caplan, Mike Ruckles, and, currently, with Katy Pfaffl.
Marissa is deeply committed to nurturing their community of artists. They are a passionate advocate for healing trauma, human rights and representation in the entertainment industry. They are especially interested in developing new works and telling Middle Eastern and queer stories. Marissa is a member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA as well as PANO, Ring of Keys and The Players, where they serve on the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. They are enthusiastic about meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, manifestation and neuroscience as well as veganism, fitness, reading, podcasts, poetry and being a cat parent to their two rescue Bengal mixes, Sebastian and Viola. Marissa is always grateful to connect with like-minded creators. Instagram handles: @marissaghavami @healingtreeorg @adivineriot
