Marissa Shankar

Shankar began her career behind the camera rather than in front of it. Driven by an interest in storytelling, she attended a summer filmmaking program at the New York Film Academy, which provided her first hands-on production experience. She later attended California State University, Monterey Bay, where she earned a degree in Cinematic Arts.

While developing her filmmaking skills, Shankar wrote and directed the 2018 short film Suraj. She continued working behind the camera into the early 2020s, directing the drama series Every Day in 2021.

Shankar took her first formal acting class in January 2020. Her transition into performance moved quickly; she booked her first feature film role six months later and secured a second feature role three months after that. In 2021, she starred as Lolo in the independent horror film Nighthawk and appeared in short films including Happy Hour and The Winner's Pool.

After signing with talent management firm Luber Roklin Entertainment, Shankar was cast in Seth MacFarlane's Peacock comedy prequel series Ted. In the series, she plays Sarah, a visitor staying with the Bennett family alongside Blaire, portrayed by Giorgia Whigham. Following Ted, Shankar appeared in Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions series Scare Tactics and was cast in the independent thriller Expunged: A Harold Hall.