Brit Heyworth Marling (born August 7, 1982) is an American actress and screenwriter. She rose to prominence after starring in several films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including ''

Sound of My Voice ''Sound of My Voice'' is a 2011 American psychological thriller film directed by Zal Batmanglij in his feature directorial debut and starring Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and Brit Marling. The plot focuses on two documentary filmmakers wh ...

'' (2011), ''

Another Earth Another or variant may refer to: * anOther or Another Magazine, culture and fashion magazine * ''Another'' (novel), a Japanese horror novel ** ''Another'' (film), a Japanese 2012 live-action film based on the novel * Another River, a river in th ...

'' (2011), and '' The East'' (2013), each of which she co-wrote in addition to playing the

lead role A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typic ...

. She co-created, wrote, and starred in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series ''

The OA ''The OA'' is an American mystery drama television series with science fiction, supernatural, and fantasy elements. ''The OA'' debuted on Netflix on December 16, 2016. Created and executive produced by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the serie ...

'', which debuted in 2016.

Early life and education

Marling was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, the daughter of property developer parents John and Heidi Marling. She was named "Brit" after her Norwegian maternal great-grandmother. She has a sister, Morgan. Marling grew up in

Winnetka, Illinois Winnetka () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located north of downtown Chicago. The population was 12,316 as of 2019. The village is one of the wealthiest places in the nation in terms of household income. It was the second- ...

, and Orlando, Florida, where she attended the arts program at Dr. Phillips High School. Marling was interested in acting, but her parents encouraged her to focus on academics. She graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

in 2005 with degrees in economics and studio art, and was her class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

Career

At Georgetown, Marling met her long-time collaborators, future directors Mike Cahill and

Zal Batmanglij Zal Batmanglij ( Persian: زال باتمانقلیچ; born on April 28, 1981) is an American film director and screenwriter. He directed and co-wrote the 2011 film ''Sound of My Voice'' and the 2013 film '' The East'', both of which premiered at ...

. Marling spent the summer of her junior year interning for the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs as an investment analyst. She felt a life spent there would have a lack of meaning and eventually turned down a job offer from the firm, opting instead to move to Cuba with Cahill to film the documentary ''Boxers and Ballerinas''. Co-writing the documentary with Cahill and Nick Shumaker, and co-directing with Cahill, the film helped Marling gain recognition in 2004. In 2005, Marling moved with Cahill and Batmanglij to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. She attended auditions and was offered roles in horror films, but turned them down. She stated she "wanted to be able to cast herself in roles that wouldn't require her to play the typical parts offered to young actresses, the perfunctory girlfriend or a crime victim." She was discovered by talent agent

Hylda Queally Hylda Queally (born 4 May 1961) is an Irish-American talent agent in the Hollywood film industry. She is an agent for some top actresses such as Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Lupita Nyong'o, Michelle William ...

Zal Batmanglij & Brit Marling (6998271749)

In the summer of 2009, she joined a group of freegans with friend and co-worker Zal Batmanglij, living in tents and retrieving food from dumpsters, to explore how other young people were constructing a meaningful life. Marling co-wrote, co-produced, and acted in the 2011 films ''

'' and ''

'', directed by Batmanglij and Cahill, respectively. Both of these films were featured at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, with ''Another Earth'' winning the Alfred P. Sloan Prize for outstanding film with science, technology or math as a major theme. In 2012, she played the daughter of

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

's character in '' Arbitrage''. In 2013, she collaborated with Searchlight on the film '' The East'', where she also played a leading role. Directed by Zal Batmanglij and co-written by Marling and Batmanglij, ''The East'' is based on the duo's experience as freegans and their concern with the side effects of prescription drugs. Marling and Batmanglij collaborated to create the drama series ''

'' which debuted in 2016 on

. It was written by Marling and Batmanglij, who produced the series along with

Dede Gardner Dorcas Wright "Dede" Gardner (born October 16, 1967) is an American film producer and the president of Plan B Entertainment. She is a two-time Oscar winner for '' 12 Years a Slave'' and ''Moonlight'', the first woman to win two Oscars for Best P ...

and

Jeremy Kleiner Jeremy Kleiner (born 1976/1977) is an American film producer. He and his fellow producers won two Academy Awards for Best Picture for the 2013 film ''12 Years a Slave'' and the 2016 film '' Moonlight''. Biography Kleiner was born to a Jewish f ...

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

, and

Michael Sugar Michael Sugar is an American film and television producer and principal at Sugar23, best known for producing ''Spotlight'', ''13 Reasons Why'', '' Maniac'' and ''The Knick''. Life and career Sugar attended the Armand Hammer United World Coll ...

Anonymous Content Anonymous Content (AC) is an American entertainment company founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Golin. It is based in Los Angeles with offices in Culver City, New York City and London. History Anonymous Content was founded in 1999 by CEO Steve Gol ...

. Marling started filming for the second season of ''The OA'' in January 2018. The second season, entitled "Part II", was released on March 22, 2019, and received positive reviews. Despite having many roles in films she has co-written, Marling stated she "get a lot more pleasure in acting in other people's stories" since "one of the great pleasures of acting is surrendering to someone else's point of view of the world."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Interview with Brit Marling about 'Another Earth'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marling, Brit 1982 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago Actresses from Orlando, Florida American documentary filmmakers American film actresses Film producers from Illinois American people of Norwegian descent American women screenwriters Georgetown University alumni Goldman Sachs people Living people Writers from Chicago Writers from Orlando, Florida American television actresses Dr. Phillips High School alumni Screenwriters from Illinois Screenwriters from Florida Film producers from Florida American women documentary filmmakers