You’ve probably heard her name once or twice. You may have scrolled past The OA on Netflix or perhaps even watched an episode or two (and thought 'I don't get it?!'). Maybe you’ve even seen a tweet about the show being cancelled.

Brit Marling is the 37-year-old screenwriter and actor behind The OA, who is basically the American, sci-fi version of Phoebe Waller-Bridge: equally talented, equally stylish, and one incredible storyteller – and you should be 100% be obsessed with her.

Here's what you need to know about Brit.

The journey from economics to Netflix

Marling grew up in Illinois, where she developed an interest in acting and even studied it in high school. But as her parents were keen on academia, she went to Georgetown University to study economics, where she graduated as Valedictorian with a degree in both economics and studio art. As one does.

But her story is not as posh and mundane as it initially sounds. Though she interned (and was even offered a job) at Goldman Sachs, she describes her time there as a 'near death experience'. Her mental health began to suffer and she says that the job just 'didn’t feel right in my body.'

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She reached a fork in the road of her own life and wellbeing: take prescription drugs to help get through the day at work – or change her work, thereby changing her life. So, she changed her life.

She started to create short films with her friends Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij. She even moved to Havana to create the documentary Boxers and Ballerinas. Although she returned to Georgetown in 2005 to complete her degree, her new calling was clear, and she then went on to move to Los Angeles with Cahill and Batmanglij.

LA, however, was a disappointment. Marling said of the parts she was being asked to audition for,'I came close to playing parts where I felt, "If I had a daughter, would I be proud of the representation of a woman she’d be watching?" That’s the point where I thought: the only way I’m going to be able to navigate what feels right is if I figure out how to tell stories.'

So, Marling decided to create her own characters. Together with Cahill and Batmanglij she co-wrote, co-produced and co-starred in a number of critically acclaimed films including Another Earth and The East.

The OA and the power of storytelling

In December 2016, following a very lengthy process of being made, The OA debuted on Netflix.

For those who haven’t seen The OA – it’s a science fiction TV show in which science, philosophy, and spirituality all play a huge part. But don't let the 'science fiction' bit put you off if that's not usually your thing. It’s a hard show to explain without going into spoiler territory, but The OA: Part I focuses on the story of a girl called Prairie Johnson (played by Marling), a blind girl who has mysteriously reappeared back in her hometown in Michigan after being missing for seven years – and with her sight in tact.

The story of Prairie and the (mostly) teenaged characters she meets may at first seem confusing or a bit abstract, but they’re anything but. The show is filled with stories of family, rage, mental health, desire, grief, death, and hope. The steadfastness and patience of this show is really something to behold – it holds its nerve and doesn’t rush Prairie's story, which is part of the reason why, perhaps, it’s taken the masses so long to pay attention to it. And although its crescendo is a cocktail of big, complex questions about humanity, time and space – it still boils down to the very simple themes of love and belonging.

Brit Marling stars in The OA, Netflix Netflix

Despite the positive reviews of The OA: Part II in March 2019, Marling confirmed on Instagram in early August that the show had not been renewed by Netflix.

And, my god, the reaction of the fans.

From picketing outside the Netflix office in Los Angeles, to hunger strikes, to elaborate theories and even buying an actual sign in Times Square – the fans of the show have mobilised, joined together, and shouted from the rooftops about what the show has done for them, and why it deserves to survive.

I mean, 'do we really need more stories by men called David' is a valid argument. (Because, really, do we?)



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“Don’t we need more stories by people not named David” is truly the best argument I’ve ever heard https://t.co/KzXednEBib — rachel handler (@rachel_handler) August 22, 2019

On Instagram, Marling wrote about storytelling 'and its fate inside late capitalism’s push toward consolidation and economies of scale' – but crucially, she said that the fans have overtaken the story of The OA, allowing it to live through them.

But beyond the fan reaction, it was Marling’s initial announcement of the end of The OA perfectly summed up what I, personally, am so obsessed with her and her version of storytelling:

“It’s hard to be inspired to write stories about the “real” world when you have never felt free in it. As a woman writing characters for myself and other women, it has often felt to me as if the paved roads for travel in narrative are limited...

“I can write about self-deprecating women who expose the abundant gender inequalities for a good laugh, but then...I am in some ways trading my humiliation for my paycheck and the chance to be let in...

“Science fiction wiped this ‘real’ world clean like an Etch-A-Sketch. Science fiction said imagine anything in its place. And so we did.”



Marling has transformed her career, and taken her responsibility as a storyteller seriously, but also with a ethereal lightness. Both her and Batmanglij have used the genre of science fiction to do what it does best: using the otherworldly to help us humble earthlings be and feel seen. Those of us who have seen ourselves in Buck, in BBA, in Steve, or Prairie or Nina, have felt represented and understood.

Brit Marling deserves a wider platform and more time to tell her stories, because her stories are not only reflective, but representative of so many different kinds of people – if not by immediate indicators such as race or gender, but 'with perfect feeling.'

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