Ready For Her Close-Up
May 6, 2013鈥擮n May 31, emerging film star and alumna Brit Marling鈥檚 (C鈥�05) newest movie, The East, will hit theaters nationwide.
A double major in and , Marling graduated valedictorian of her class. Her academic achievements and successful summer internship at Goldman Sachs led to a job offer from the investment banking firm. But she decided against a career in financial management and instead moved to Hollywood to chase her real dream: making movies.
Her interest in filmmaking began when she saw a short film at the student-run Georgetown Film Festival. She was so impressed that she tracked down its creators, Zal Batmanglij (C鈥�01) and Mike Cahill (C鈥�01), and asked for a chance to collaborate with them on future projects.
鈥淚 saw Zal in a supermarket and I followed him around the store. I tapped him on the shoulder [and said], 鈥業 really loved your movie, and I鈥檒l do anything in your next one鈥攍ights, sound, whatever,鈥欌�� Marling told the New York Times. 鈥淗e looked at me and said, 鈥榃ell, maybe you can be in it.鈥欌��
In her junior year, a documentary she co-wrote and co-produced with Cahill, Boxers and Ballerinas, was released to critical acclaim in both the United States and Panama. The film told the story of four struggling young people in Havana, Miami, and Santiago de Cuba鈥攖wo of them fighters, two of them dancers.
After producing this film, Marling moved to California to live with Batmanglij and Cahill and pursued a career in acting. Dissatisfied with the roles Hollywood offered, she studied screenwriting techniques so she could star in movies of her own creation.
鈥淚 knew it was going to be very hard to become an actress. I wasn鈥檛 prepared to be Bikini Girl Number 3 or star in Return of the Chainsaw IV,鈥� Marling explained to W Magazine. 鈥淢ost of the storytelling in movies is by men, so I wanted to write complex narratives about women.
鈥淣othing terrified me more than acting,鈥� she continued, 鈥渂ut fear can be very motivating.鈥�
Eventually, Marling brainstormed two film ideas with Batmanglij and Cahill that became full-fledged movies. Both films premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and, following several award nominations and wins, were released by Fox Searchlight Pictures within a few months.
The first was Another Earth, produced and written by Cahill and Marling, in which Marling plays a young woman who develops a relationship with a man whose family she accidentally kills at the same time scientists discover an Earth-like planet.
This was followed by Sound of My Voice, a psychological thriller directed by Batmanglij, co-produced by Marling, and written by both, in which Marling portrays the enigmatic leader of cult who claims to be from the future.
Marling recently returned to Georgetown for a screening of her latest film and spoke with students in the . For The East, Marling again teamed up with longtime friend Batmanglij鈥攚ho directed the film鈥攖o devise the story, in which a talented government agent (played by Marling) infiltrates a group of eco-terrorists. It is their first film to feature A-list actors, including Alexander Skarsg氓rd, Ellen Page, and Patricia Clarkson.
To research the film, Marling and Batmanglij traveled the country for several months, living as 鈥渇reegans.鈥� Freeganism is an anti-consumerist ideology in which people reject modern services like electricity, indoor plumbing, and professional medicine, and subsist solely on food they have grown themselves or that has been discarded.
Many pivotal moments in the film are inspired by actual experiences for Marling and Batmanglij, who train-hopped and dumpster-dived with real-life freegans while researching.
鈥淔辞谤 The East, Zal [Batmanglij] and I spent a lot of time on the road, meeting anarchist groups and different kinds of self-organized communities,鈥� Marling revealed to W Magazine. 鈥淲hen I write or act, I always try to make sure that I鈥檓 not using fantasy to avoid doing homework. To come up with a genuine insight based on something real is not easy.鈥�
Marling chalks up her success in Hollywood to the work she has invested in becoming an emotionally intelligent screenwriter, as well as the rhythm she has developed with Batmanglij.
鈥淲hen I鈥檓 sitting writing, I know that something works if I鈥檝e made myself cry, or laugh, or have a visceral emotion,鈥� Marling told the New York Times. 鈥淎lso, I work with collaborators, and I think we鈥檝e gotten very good at editing each other鈥檚 work.鈥�
See Brit Marling’s previous interviews with the and W Magazine.