Nace en 1972, en Minero de Pasos. Su infancia transcurre en Sao Paulo y desde pequeño mostró sus dones de actor. A los ocho años debutó en la TELE, en una serie de la Red Bandeirantes. Cuatro años después estaba en la TELE Globo. Su llegada al cine ocurrió en 1990, en Uma escola atrapalhada, dirigida por Antonio Rangel. También actuó en Lamarca (1994, Sergio Rezende), O que isso, companheiro (1996, Bruno Barreto), y Guerra de Canudos (1997, Sergio Rezende), O auto da Compadecida (2000, Guel Arraes), miniserie de televisión cuya versión para el cine se convirtió en la película brasileña más vista en el 2000.

Se dedicó con ahínco a su personaje en Lavoura arcaica (2001), de Luiz Fernando Carvalho. En 2005 dio sus primeros pasos en la dirección cinematográfica, y al año siguiente estrenó el corto Quando o tempo cair. Su primer largometraje de ficción es Feliz Natal (2007), es una crónica abigarrada de la noche navideña en una familia de clase alta totalmente disfuncional. Fue presentada en festivales como Huelva, La Habana, Bolivia  y Lima, en los que obtuvo numerosos premios.

O Palhaço (El payaso) es su segundo largometraje.

Selton Mello (1972-) grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since an early age he showed his gift for acting. He debut in the television series Red Bandeirantes at the age of 8 in 1980. Four year later,  he was on Globo television. His debut o the big screen was in 1990 in Uma escola atrapalhada, directed by Antonio Rangel.  Already in film, he played in Lamarca (1994) by Sergio Rezende, O que isso, companheiro (1996) by Bruno Barreto and Guerra de Canudos (1997) also by Rezende, and in O auto da Compadecida (2000) by Guel Arraes, a television miniseries that had a film version  that became the most successful Brazilian film at the box office in 2000.

He put a great deal of effort to his role in Lavoura arcaica (2001) by Luiz Fernando Carvalho. He has also been actor at many soap operas and miniseries. In 2005, he began his training to direct films, and in 2006, made the short film Quando o tempo cair. In 2007, he directed his first feature film, December, shown at various Brazilian and international film festivals.

O Palhaço, his second feature film as director, became a box office hit in Brazil and has sold more than 1.5 million tickets.