The OA
Cast
Series cast summary:
Brit Marling... Prairie Johnson / ...15 episodes, 2016-2019
Emory Cohen... Homer / ...14 episodes, 2016-2019
Patrick Gibson... Steve Winchell 14 episodes, 2016-2019
Jason Isaacs... Dr. Hunter Aloysius 'Hap' Percy 14 episodes, 2016-2019
Ian Alexander... Buck Vu 13 episodes, 2016-2019
Phyllis Smith... Betty Broderick-Allen / ...12 episodes, 2016-2019
Brendan Meyer... Jesse 12 episodes, 2016-2019
Brandon Perea... Alfonso 'French' Sosa / ...12 episodes, 2016-2019
Will Brill... Scott Brown 12 episodes, 2016-2019
Sharon Van Etten... Rachel10 episodes, 2016-2019
Scott Wilson... Abel Johnson9 episodes, 2016-2019
Alice Krige... Nancy Johnson / ...9 episodes, 2016-2019
Paz Vega... Renata7 episodes, 2016-2019
Brit Marling
Marling at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Born:
Brit Heyworth Marling
August 7, 1982 (age 36)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Residence
Los Angeles, California
Alma mater
Georgetown University
OccupationActress, screenwriter
Years active2007–present
Known forI Origins, Another Earth, The East, The OA
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 (2011), Another Earth (2011), and The East (2013), which she co-wrote in addition to playing the lead role. She co-created, wrote, and starred in the Netflix series The OA, which debuted in 2016.
Early life and education[edit]Marling was born in Chicago, Illinois,[1] the daughter of property developer parents John and Heidi Marling.[2][3] She was named "Brit" after her Norwegian maternal great-grandmother.[4] She has a sister, Morgan Marling, who has been dating writer and director Francesca Gregorini since 2014.[5] She grew up in Winnetka, Illinois,[6] and attended the arts program at Dr. Phillips High School.[3]Marling was interested in acting, but her parents encouraged her to focus on academics.[7] She graduated from Georgetown University in 2005 with degrees in economics and studio art, and was her class valedictorian.[8][9]
Career[edit]At Georgetown, Marling met her long-time collaborators, future directors Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij.[10] Marling spent the summer of her junior year interning for the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs as an investment analyst.[11] She felt a life spent there would have a lack of meaning and eventually turned down a job offer from the firm,[10] opting instead to move to Cuba with Cahill to film the documentary Boxers and Ballerinas.[12] Co-writing the documentary with Cahill and Shumaker, and co-directing with Cahill, the film helped Marling gain recognition in 2004[13]
In 2005 Marling moved with Cahill and Batmanglij to Los Angeles. She attended auditions and was offered roles in horror films, but turned them down.[14] 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."[15] She was discovered by talent agent Hylda Queally.[16]
Marling with her frequent collaborator Zal Batmanglij speaking at the 2012 WonderCon in Anaheim, California.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,[17] to explore how other young people were constructing a meaningful life.[18]
Marling co-wrote, co-produced, and acted in the 2011 films Sound of My Voice and Another Earth, 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.[19]In 2012, she played the daughter of Richard Gere's character in Arbitrage.
In 2013 she collaborated with Searchlight on the film The East, once again as co-writer a leading role, acting alongside Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgård. 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.[17]
Marling and Batmanglij collaborated to create the drama series The OA which debuted in 2016 on Netflix.[20] It was written by Marling and Batmanglij, who produced the series along with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B, and Michael Sugarof Anonymous Content.[21]
Marling started filming for the second season of The OA in January 2018.[22]
Despite having many roles in films she has co-written, Marling stated she "get[s] a lot more pleasure in acting in other people's stories"[17] since "one of the great pleasures of acting is surrendering to someone else's point of view of the world."[23]
Cast
Series cast summary:
Brit Marling... Prairie Johnson / ...15 episodes, 2016-2019
Emory Cohen... Homer / ...14 episodes, 2016-2019
Patrick Gibson... Steve Winchell 14 episodes, 2016-2019
Jason Isaacs... Dr. Hunter Aloysius 'Hap' Percy 14 episodes, 2016-2019
Ian Alexander... Buck Vu 13 episodes, 2016-2019
Phyllis Smith... Betty Broderick-Allen / ...12 episodes, 2016-2019
Brendan Meyer... Jesse 12 episodes, 2016-2019
Brandon Perea... Alfonso 'French' Sosa / ...12 episodes, 2016-2019
Will Brill... Scott Brown 12 episodes, 2016-2019
Sharon Van Etten... Rachel10 episodes, 2016-2019
Scott Wilson... Abel Johnson9 episodes, 2016-2019
Alice Krige... Nancy Johnson / ...9 episodes, 2016-2019
Paz Vega... Renata7 episodes, 2016-2019
Brit Marling
Marling at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
Born:
Brit Heyworth Marling
August 7, 1982 (age 36)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Residence
Los Angeles, California
Alma mater
Georgetown University
OccupationActress, screenwriter
Years active2007–present
Known forI Origins, Another Earth, The East, The OA
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 (2011), Another Earth (2011), and The East (2013), which she co-wrote in addition to playing the lead role. She co-created, wrote, and starred in the Netflix series The OA, which debuted in 2016.
Early life and education[edit]Marling was born in Chicago, Illinois,[1] the daughter of property developer parents John and Heidi Marling.[2][3] She was named "Brit" after her Norwegian maternal great-grandmother.[4] She has a sister, Morgan Marling, who has been dating writer and director Francesca Gregorini since 2014.[5] She grew up in Winnetka, Illinois,[6] and attended the arts program at Dr. Phillips High School.[3]Marling was interested in acting, but her parents encouraged her to focus on academics.[7] She graduated from Georgetown University in 2005 with degrees in economics and studio art, and was her class valedictorian.[8][9]
Career[edit]At Georgetown, Marling met her long-time collaborators, future directors Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij.[10] Marling spent the summer of her junior year interning for the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs as an investment analyst.[11] She felt a life spent there would have a lack of meaning and eventually turned down a job offer from the firm,[10] opting instead to move to Cuba with Cahill to film the documentary Boxers and Ballerinas.[12] Co-writing the documentary with Cahill and Shumaker, and co-directing with Cahill, the film helped Marling gain recognition in 2004[13]
In 2005 Marling moved with Cahill and Batmanglij to Los Angeles. She attended auditions and was offered roles in horror films, but turned them down.[14] 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."[15] She was discovered by talent agent Hylda Queally.[16]
Marling with her frequent collaborator Zal Batmanglij speaking at the 2012 WonderCon in Anaheim, California.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,[17] to explore how other young people were constructing a meaningful life.[18]
Marling co-wrote, co-produced, and acted in the 2011 films Sound of My Voice and Another Earth, 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.[19]In 2012, she played the daughter of Richard Gere's character in Arbitrage.
In 2013 she collaborated with Searchlight on the film The East, once again as co-writer a leading role, acting alongside Ellen Page and Alexander Skarsgård. 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.[17]
Marling and Batmanglij collaborated to create the drama series The OA which debuted in 2016 on Netflix.[20] It was written by Marling and Batmanglij, who produced the series along with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B, and Michael Sugarof Anonymous Content.[21]
Marling started filming for the second season of The OA in January 2018.[22]
Despite having many roles in films she has co-written, Marling stated she "get[s] a lot more pleasure in acting in other people's stories"[17] since "one of the great pleasures of acting is surrendering to someone else's point of view of the world."[23]
TriviaIn season one, episode four, "Away," Jesse goes home and watches television with his sister. They are watching Stranger Things (2016), another Netflix Original series.
In preparation for her role, Brit Marling befriended a man who went blind at age nineteen to tutor her in coping with the day-to-day chores of a typical blind person. The couple would meet in downtown Manhattan and she would spend up to six hours per day learning how to clean an apartment, make an omelet, et cetera. Throughout these sessions, Brit would be blindfolded.
Khatun, the lady who appears in Prairie's near death experiences, speaks original (classical) Arabic language.
While filming the dog attack scene in season one, episode one, Brit Marling broke her nose.
The end credits (season one, episode eight): "In Memory of Allison Wilke" is an alias used by Associate Producer A.W. Gryphon, who died of breast cancer at the age of forty-four in November 2016.
The opening title doesn't come on until an hour into the first episode.
The series features music from Creator Zal Batmanglij's brother; musician, producer, and former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij.
The word "Khatun" is a female title of nobility prominently used in the Turkic Khaganate and in the subsequent Mongol Empire. In modern-day Bukhara language and Urdu language, it simply refers to any woman.
When Betty played by Phyllis Smith goes online to search for "The OA", the search engine first displays "The Office". Smith starred in the American version of the popular series "The Office" from 2005 to 2013.
Season 2, Episode 1: Zendaya is featured in this episode as one of the gamers. She is however, uncredited.
The "OA" of the series title stands for "Original Angel".
Was originally conceived as a film instead of a series.
Part of the filming for the show was completed at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Orange County, New York.
Steve Winchell (Patrick Gibson) uses the name "lost boy" for his snapchat username. The same actor played Curly, one of the Lost Boys, in the television mini-series Neverland (2011).
In season one, episode two, "New Colossus", when Prairie and her parents are taking a family photo, we hear the photographer say, "...Prairie, toward the sound of my voice, honey..." to get her attention. The Sound of My Voice (2011) is the first feature-length film by both Zal Batmanlij and Brit Marling.
This is Brit Marling's first television show since Babylon (2014).
The name of the teacher, Elizabeth Broderick-Allen, may be a nod to Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck who co-starred as teenage boys skipping a day of school in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
In preparation for her role, Brit Marling befriended a man who went blind at age nineteen to tutor her in coping with the day-to-day chores of a typical blind person. The couple would meet in downtown Manhattan and she would spend up to six hours per day learning how to clean an apartment, make an omelet, et cetera. Throughout these sessions, Brit would be blindfolded.
Khatun, the lady who appears in Prairie's near death experiences, speaks original (classical) Arabic language.
While filming the dog attack scene in season one, episode one, Brit Marling broke her nose.
The end credits (season one, episode eight): "In Memory of Allison Wilke" is an alias used by Associate Producer A.W. Gryphon, who died of breast cancer at the age of forty-four in November 2016.
The opening title doesn't come on until an hour into the first episode.
The series features music from Creator Zal Batmanglij's brother; musician, producer, and former Vampire Weekend member Rostam Batmanglij.
The word "Khatun" is a female title of nobility prominently used in the Turkic Khaganate and in the subsequent Mongol Empire. In modern-day Bukhara language and Urdu language, it simply refers to any woman.
When Betty played by Phyllis Smith goes online to search for "The OA", the search engine first displays "The Office". Smith starred in the American version of the popular series "The Office" from 2005 to 2013.
Season 2, Episode 1: Zendaya is featured in this episode as one of the gamers. She is however, uncredited.
The "OA" of the series title stands for "Original Angel".
Was originally conceived as a film instead of a series.
Part of the filming for the show was completed at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Orange County, New York.
Steve Winchell (Patrick Gibson) uses the name "lost boy" for his snapchat username. The same actor played Curly, one of the Lost Boys, in the television mini-series Neverland (2011).
In season one, episode two, "New Colossus", when Prairie and her parents are taking a family photo, we hear the photographer say, "...Prairie, toward the sound of my voice, honey..." to get her attention. The Sound of My Voice (2011) is the first feature-length film by both Zal Batmanlij and Brit Marling.
This is Brit Marling's first television show since Babylon (2014).
The name of the teacher, Elizabeth Broderick-Allen, may be a nod to Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck who co-starred as teenage boys skipping a day of school in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
