Brit Marling

Brit Heyworth Marling was born on August 7, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents, Heidi (Johnson) and John Marling, both worked in real estate. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Georgetown University in 2005, where she graduated as class valedictorian. During her junior year, she interned as an investment analyst at Goldman Sachs but turned down a job offer to pursue a career in the arts. This decision led her to Cuba with future collaborator Mike Cahill, where she co-directed and co-wrote the 2004 documentary “Boxers and Ballerinas,” marking her entry into the film industry.

After moving to Los Angeles, Marling explored acting opportunities but intentionally avoided conventional roles often offered to young actresses, seeking more complex characters. She taught herself screenwriting with the goal of creating meaningful roles. This initiative led to a pivotal year in 2011, when two films she co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in premiered at the Sundance Film Festival: “Another Earth” (directed by Mike Cahill) and “Sound of My Voice” (directed by Zal Batmanglij). “Another Earth” earned her the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress and the Sitges Film Festival Award for Best Actress, along with an Alfred P. Sloan Prize at Sundance. That same year, she also appeared in an episode of the TV series “Community.”

Marling continued to expand her career, taking on acting roles in films such as “Arbitrage” (2012) and “The Company You Keep” (2012). In 2013, she co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in “The East,” a film based on her experience with freeganism. From 2016 to 2019, Marling co-created, wrote, and starred in the Netflix drama series “The OA,” which garnered positive reviews. She extended her creative involvement by co-creating, writing all seven episodes, and directing three episodes of the 2023 thriller miniseries “A Murder at the End of the World.” She and her frequent collaborator Zal Batmanglij recently entered into a multi-year creative partnership with independent production company Sister in June 2024 to develop new film and television projects.