Biography
Nerissa Tedesco is known for comedy, drama, horror, crime and family films, plus music video and network reality TV. Her roles include everything from a Russian palm reader in Ocean's Twelve (2004) to a conniving housekeeper in Dirty Little Deeds (2021) to a medical examiner in 1 Interrogation (2020).
She's also known for improvisational skills and a dozen varied accents/dialects, e.g. American Southern in You Should Meet My Son 2! (2018), and three accents in $elfie Shootout (2016). Nerissa was awarded starring roles in each of these two movies after auditioning for supporting roles. Each film's director welcomed improvisation, and both movies' final cuts included Nerissa's improvised dialogue and physical humor. During her favorite improv, in $elfie, she rapidly changes accents while shifting a costume piece to show how the garment is worn in each accent's home country.
Nerissa studied improv with Kay Cannon at Second City and Shirley Prestia from The Groundlings. She pairs this with ongoing, on-camera training for film, TV and commercials.
Her passion for developing new, interesting characters and bringing them to life began early in her own life while growing up in - where else - Los Angeles! As a teen, she and a late sister pioneered the "valley girl" type of character well before it was popularized as such. They performed hilarious sketches at benefits throughout Southern California featuring valley girl bubble-headed ideas in valley girl "speak."
Her other character types can be described as a bag lady, fortune teller, clairvoyant, channel, psychic, drag queen, scientist, medical doctor, catholic nun, a practical jokester, and anything quirky. In fact, Nerissa frequently draws directors' praise for her comedic timing.
Nerissa graduated cum laude from California State University, Northridge, with a B.A. in theater arts.
Vitals: Height: 5'5." Physique: Average. Hair: Auburn. Eyes: Brown. Hair Length: Long. Ethnic Appearance: Caucasian, Latina, Middle Eastern, Mixed.
