Before she left Shameless, Perry Mattfeld played Mel — the jealous girlfriend of Jessica Szohr's Nessa. While she only appeared in seven episodes of the Showtime series, she made a mark on fans of the show. She was part of an LGBTQ+ couple with Nessa, who was a tenant of Fiona Gallagher in the series' eighth season. She then created a lot of problems, with an antagonistic attitude toward Fiona. Her stay was short, but Perry Mattfeld was so memorable on Shameless as she made Mel such an incredibly satisfying character to hate.
Perry Mattfeld was a relatively fresh face on TV when she joined the cast of Shameless alongside the likes of Emmy Rossum, William H. Macy, and the rest. She graduated from USC's School of Dramatic Arts in 2016 but got her first mainstream role years earlier when she appeared in Wizards of Waverly Place as FrankenGirl. However, it was Shameless that was her first major role and one that helped her pick up her first lead role just one year after leaving the Showtime series, which is partly what made her exit a little shocking. Here is what happened to Mel and what Perry Mattfeld did next.
What Happened To Mel In Shameless?
Perry Mattfeld's Mel arrived in Shameless season 8. The ever-resourceful Fiona Gallagher took on many odd jobs in Shameless to provide for her family — from motel housekeeping to working as part of a toxic waste clean-up crew. In the show’s eighth season, she became a landlord after buying and flipping a failing laundromat the season prior gave her enough capital to purchase an apartment building. Emmy Rossum’s Fiona encountered plenty of problems in her new life, such as having to evict a struggling single mother for not paying rent and almost getting sued by a family of squatters.
However, she did find an ally in the form of her new tenant Nessa Chabon, played by Gossip Girl star Jessica Szohr. The pair bonded over their shared love of wine coolers and sarcastic humor and became fast friends. The same couldn’t be said for Mel in Shameless, Nessa’s jealous live-in girlfriend. Described by Nessa as “blonde and bitchy”, Mel butted heads with Fiona when she lied about the building being infested with bedbugs to a potential tenant. In later episodes of season 8, it was revealed Nessa and Mel were expecting a baby and the couple had to relocate when Fiona sold the building in season 9.
What Did Perry Mattfeld Do After Shameless
Perry Mattfeld was only in seven episodes as Mel in Shameless, but her career has gone from strength to strength since. After her time on Shameless came to an end, Mattfeld had a bit part in an episode of Amazon’s psychological thriller Homecoming and soon after nabbed a two-episode stint as a character named Pam in the podcast series Carrier.
Her biggest post-Shameless role came with the lead in The CW drama series In The Dark in which she played Murphy Mason — a blind twenty-something woman who sets out to solve her friend’s murder. The former Shameless cast member reprised her role as In The Dark’s main character in the show’s fourth and final season on The CW in 2022.
Perry Mattfeld's Next Role Caused A Bit Of Controversy
Perry Mattfeld's most notable after playing Mel in Shameless was In the Dark, but her time as Murphy was highly controversial. Mattfeld's Murphy character is a 20-something single blind woman who deals with the wreckage of her life. While the show was not based on her blindness — despite the clear yet clumsy and problematic allusion to it in the title In the Dark — the fact Mattfeld is not blind caused significant controversy.
The National Federation of the Blind president, Mark Riccobono, said that "There are blind actors looking for work, and no sighted actor, however accomplished or talented, can bring the same insight and authenticity to a blind character." (via The New York Times). Despite this, the show lasted In the Dark lasted four seasons. Hopefully, what the former Shameless actress Perry Mattfeld does next is not as controversial because she delivered a great performance in the role, despite the problematic casting.