Brit Heyworth Marling (born August 7, 1982) is an American actress, screenwriter and film producer. She first gained recognition in 2004 with the documentary Boxers and Ballerinas and later became a Sundance star with the Searchlight films Sound of My Voice (2011), Another Earth (2011) and The East (2013) which she co-wrote in addition to playing the lead role. She starred in the 2016 Netflix series The OA, which she co-created with Zal Batmanglij.
Marling was born in Chicago, 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, who has been dating writer and director Francesca Gregorini since 2014. She grew up in Winnetka, Illinois and in Orlando, where she enrolled in 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 in 2005 with degrees in economics and studio art, and was her class valedictorian.