Maurissa Tancharoen

Tancharoen's first paid script came in 2001 when she sold Revolution Studios an untitled pitch in which two Asian American FBI agents investigate a gang in South Central Los Angeles by working undercover as Korean grocery store clerks.[3] Her production credits include working as assistant to producer Mark Tinker on NYPD Blue and to William M. Finkelstein on Brooklyn South, as well as being co-executive producer of the series DanceLife.[2]

As a writer and story editor Tancharoen has worked on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Starz series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Drop Dead Diva, Dollhouse[4] and the short-lived sitcom Oliver Beene.[2] She also worked on Spartacus: Vengeance.[5]

In addition to writing, Tancharoen also played a brief acting role in Dollhouse as the active Kilo (like the other Los Angeles actives named from the NATO phonetic alphabet), and co-wrote and performed lyrics for "Remains" with Jed Whedon for the Dollhouse episode "Epitaph One". She co-wrote Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and appeared onscreen as Groupie #1, as well as on the DVD audio track "Commentary! The Musical", in which she sings about the scarcity of non-stereotyped roles in television and film for actors of Asian origin.[6] She appeared onscreen as a singer in Joss Whedon's 2011 adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing;[7] provided Zelda's singing voice in the season 2 episode "The Musical" of The Legend of Neil, a spoof based on the video game The Legend of Zelda; and performed backing vocals and danced in the video for The Guild parody song "(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar" released August 17, 2009.[8]

Tancharoen worked with Jed Whedon and Joss Whedon on The Avengers,[9][10] and was a showrunner and executive producer for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[11]

Tancharoen is of Thai origin (ตันเจริญ).[12] She attended Occidental College, where she wrote two plays that won the Argonaut & Moore literary award.[3] Her father, Tommy Tancharoen, is a transportation coordinator for Hollywood movies. Her brother Kevin Tancharoen is a director, whose feature film debut is 2009's Fame. On April 19, 2009, she married fellow writer Jed Whedon, brother of Joss Whedon.[13] Their first child, daughter Benny Sue Whedon,[14] was born on March 5, 2015.

In her younger years, Tancharoen was a member of the girl band Pretty in Pink.[15] The band broke up before seeing major success and shortly after Tancharoen was diagnosed with lupus that required chemotherapy.[16]

In 2009, Tancharoen won a Streamy Award for Best Writing for a Comedy Web Series for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

• Wake Up (with Pretty In Pink) (Motown, 1991)[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maurissa Tancharoen.

• Maurissa Tancharoen at IMDb