Marisa Coughlan

She also had a recurring role as Melissa Hughes on the series Boston Legal.

Coughlan is a native of Saint Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from Breck School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Coughlan's first film appearance to gain mainstream attention was in Kevin Williamson's directorial debut Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), in which she co-starred alongside Katie Holmes and Helen Mirren. She was cast in the role after reportedly having been rejected for a role on Williamson's series Dawson's Creek. She followed this with a recurring role on the series Wasteland in 1999. Other films she appeared in included Pumpkin (co-starring with Christina Ricci), a drama about sorority girls; New Suit, a satirical comedy about the inner workings of Hollywood; Super Troopers, playing Officer Ursula Hanson; and Freddy Got Fingered as Betty. She had a recurring role on the television series Boston Legal as secretary Melissa Hughes in seasons two and three. She appeared in a ouija board segment in an early episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction which also features in every episode of the show. In 2007, she starred as Jenny McIntyre in Lifetime Television's original series Side Order of Life. In 2008–2009, she appeared on three episodes of the TV show Bones. Coughlan began writing while she was pregnant and taking time off from acting. She wrote and produced her first pilot, Lost & Found for ABC in 2011. In 2014, she completed writing a comedy based on Peter and Wendy for NBC. In 2016, it was reported by Variety that Fox was developing a comedy series titled Pushing, written by Coughlan and produced by Greg Berlanti. In 2022, Coughlan wrote and starred opposite Beau Bridges in the independent drama film Days When the Rains Came, which was filmed in Minnesota.

After living in Studio City, California, Coughlan sold her home there in 2015.