Brit Heyworth Marling (born August 7, 1982) is an American writer, producer, director, and actress. After majoring in economics at Georgetown University, Brit moved to Los Angeles with friends Mike Cahil and Zal Batmanglij to pursue screenplay writing and acting. Marling was born in Chicago, Illinois. She was named "Brit" after her Norwegian maternal great-grandmother. She graduated from Georgetown University in 2005 with degrees in economics and studio art, and was her class Valedictorian.