Debra Messing

Debra Messing was in a relationship with writer and actor Daniel Zelman for a very long time. They first met in 1990 when Debra was in college and their relationship culminated in marriage in 2000. She gave birth to their son in 2004 and after 16 years of being together, the couple got divorced in 2016.

Soon after the divorce, Debra started dating actor Will Chase, who had starred along with her in the series ‘Smash’. The couple broke up after a few years.

Debra Messing was born on 15th August 1968 in New York to Jewish parents. Her father worked for a jewelry company, while her mother worked as a singer, traveler and real estate agent. At the age of 3, Debra moved from her birthplace Brooklyn to Rhode Island with her parents and her brother.

Debra was a fan of soap operas and was particularly inspired by the musical dramas, in which the actors sang and danced. She insisted on learning dance and by the time she was a teenager, she had learned many dance forms. She was also making her parents proud by winning many dance competitions at school.

During her high school days, she indulged in acting and other extracurricular activities, and eventually sidelined her studies. Her parents supported her dreams of becoming an actor, but they also insisted her to concentrate on education as well. Debra then focused on her studies and after graduating from the high school, she tried to gain access intosome of thetop universities in order to get a formal education in the art of acting.

She also entered a few local beauty pageants and performed rather well, winning Rhode Island’s Junior Miss competition. This win furthered her desire to act, and she enrolled herself at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. During her early years at the University, she became part of a few workshops for acting.

She then attended New York’s esteemed Tisch School of the Arts. She graduated with a master degree in fine arts and soon after that, she participated in a few theatre workshops. Eventually, she was selected to play a role in ‘NYPD Blue’.

In 1994, she was seen on TV for the first time when she acted in ‘NYPD Blue’. She played the sister of the main character, and portrayed her role of a sly, cunning girl with precision. Not surprisingly, her performance received acclamation from one and all.

It wasn’t long before she got noticed by the industry professionals and she soon got an opportunity to act in the film, ‘A Walk in the Clouds’, which released in 1995. In the film, she played the wife of a World War 2 veteran, played by Keanu Reeves.

Fox Network approached her for a major role in the sitcom, ‘Ned & Stacey’, which narrated the story of a couple who gets married without ever being in love with each other. She later said during an interview that she was terrified of all the attention she was getting, as the sitcom was shot in front of a live audience. But she did well and received praises for her role. The series ran for two successful seasons and was taken off air due to undisclosed reasons.

In 1996, she played a minor role in the most successful sitcom of that time, ‘Seinfeld’. She starred in two episodes as the date of Jerry Seinfeld. Later, she turned down similar roles as she was tired of playing such roles.

In 1998, she got the first big break of her career through the science fiction thriller series, ‘Prey’, in which Messing played the leading role of Sloan, a scientist. Though the series was taken off air after a season, it later developed a cult following.