He was first successful as a model, having booked gigs for
Dolce & Gabbana,
Kenneth Cole and
MAC. After recurring during the second season, Melton officially became a series regular on
Riverdale starting with the third season. In 2019, he starred in his first feature film as Daniel Bae in
The Sun Is Also a Star, the film adaptation of the book of the same name by
Nicola Yoon. Because of that movie, he is the first
Korean-American and
Asian-American actor to lead a teen
romance film from a major Hollywood studio. In 2023, he co-starred in the
Todd Haynes directed
Netflix drama film
May December where he acted alongside
Natalie Portman and
Julianne Moore. Melton's performance received critical acclaim, winning Best Supporting Actor from the
Gotham Independent Film Awards,
National Society of Film Critics Awards and the
New York Film Critics Awards. He also received a nomination for the
Golden Globe Award. He starred in
Warfare, an
A24 war movie written and directed by
Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. He is set to star in
Love Child with
Elizabeth Olsen with a release date to be announced. He will also star in
Beef season 2 alongside
Oscar Isaac,
Carey Mulligan,
Cailee Spaeny, and
Yuh-Jung Youn, as well as
Her Private Hell alongside
Sophie Thatcher and
Havana Rose Liu. His charity work includes serving as a Global Ambassador for
Special Olympics International. ==Personal life==