Marissa was born and raised in southern Orange County, California. Always a lover of film and theater (and attention), she naturally gravitated towards the performing arts. After playing the role of The Cow in her middle school's musical production of Jack and the Beanstalk, she was hooked.

Marissa earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Performance from Chapman University, where she spent the majority of her time acting in as many main-stage theater productions and student films as she could get her hands on. She then quickly made the move to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor in Hollywood.