Malese Jow

Biography:

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

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jow relocated to California at the age of nine with her mother, Lanae Tillery Jow, her sister Makenna, and brothers Jensen and Braden. She is of Chinese-American and Cherokee heritage. As a child, she frequently performed the national anthem at local baseball games.

Jow began acting at a young age, appearing on Barney and Dellaventura when she was six. Her career gained momentum after she landed a co-starring role on Unfabulous, where she played Geena Fabiano, one of the closest friends of Emma Roberts’ character. The series ran from 2004 to 2007 and earned Jow multiple Young Artist Award nominations.

After Unfabulous concluded, she appeared in the film Bratz: The Movie as Quinn and made guest appearances on shows including Wizards of Waverly Place, The Young and the Restless, iCarly, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and Hannah Montana. She also co-starred in the 2009 science fiction comedy Aliens in the Attic.

In 2010, Jow joined The Vampire Diaries as Anna, a vampire, appearing in the first season and briefly returning in season three. That same year, she appeared in the fantasy romance You’re So Cupid! and the drama The Social Network, and guest-starred on TNT’s Leverage. She later starred as Cadence Nash in the Nickelodeon action series The Troop.

In 2011, Jow took on a recurring role in season two of Big Time Rush as Lucy Stone, an aspiring musician involved in a love triangle with members of the band. She also guest-starred on Desperate Housewives. The following year, she appeared in the CW drama pilot Shelter, though the series was not picked up.

In 2013, Jow joined the cast of the crime comedy Plastic and reprised her role as Lucy Stone for the final season of Big Time Rush. She also became the host of TVD Rehash, a companion show for The Vampire Diaries. That same year, she was cast as Julia Yeung in the CW pilot Oxygen, which was later reworked and aired as Star-Crossed during the 2013–14 television season.

In 2014, Jow appeared in the television film Presumed Dead in Paradise and took on a recurring role as Linda Park in The Flash. She later portrayed the Earth-2 version of the character, Dr. Light. In 2015, she was featured in Maxim’s Hot 10 list.

In 2017, it was announced that Jow would play Mareth Ravenlock in season two of The Shannara Chronicles. She also appeared on NCIS: Los Angeles as Jennifer Kim and was cast in the film Escape Plan: The Extractors. Around the same period, she began work on the feature film I Wrote This For You.

By 2025, Jow had largely stepped back from on-screen acting, shifting her focus toward voice work—most notably on Invincible. She now primarily produces lifestyle and food-related content for Instagram.