Background:

American actress and former model Margo Stilley rose to prominence thanks to her portrayal of Lisa on the controversial British movie “9 Songs” (2004), directed by Michael Winterbottom. Following her auspicious acting debut, Stilley has appeared in films like “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People” (2008) and “Hippie Hippie Shake,” an unreleased British drama film produced by Working Title Films, and played the role of Mischa in the BBC2 comedy “The Trip” (2010).  

Stilley now mainly resides in England and is engaged to Bruce Cummings, who works in finance. She converted to Judaism in 2006.    


Bear Creek Native

Childhood and Family:

Margo Stilley was born on November 20, 1982, in Bear Creek, North Carolina, but grew up in Conway, South Carolina. As a teenager, she went to Milan to pursue modeling. She moved to London when she was 18. Her mother resides in a small Bible-belt town in Onslow County, North Carolina.


The Trip

Career:

Margo Stilley began modeling in Milan when she was a teenager. Four years after her arrival in London, she branched out into acting with a promising starring turn opposite Kieran O'Brien in “9 Songs” (2004), a British art film directed and written by Michael Winterbottom. According to the Guardian, the film is the most sexually explicit mainstream film to date, mainly because it includes several scenes of real sex between the two lead actors. There, Stilley portrayed Lisa, an American exchange student.

“I wanted to make a film about something I really believe in, which is to show sex in a very positive light, as a very important piece of everyday life and a very important piece of a relationship, whether it's successful or unsuccessful. What I find in films I see is that sex is always a turning point in action, someone's cheating on someone, or someone dies. It's always the kids having sex in horror films that die. And I didn't like that. And in the sexually explicit films I've seen like Ai No Corrida [the Japanese classic in which the heroine cuts off her partner's penis], they're crazy, people don't do that, it's not normal!”  Margo Stilley (on why she made “9 Songs”)

In 2005, Stilley appeared in the pilot of the UK comedy series “Nathan Barley.” In the following year, she appeared in an episode of the BBC comedy detective series “The Gil Mayo Mysteries,” which starred Alistair McGowan. Stilley next co-starred with Leo Gregory and Eva Birthistle in the horror film “Reverb” (2007), which was released in the UK on March 6, 2009, and was cast as Ingrid, the work colleague of Sidney Young (played by Simon Pegg) in the British comedy film “How to Lose Friends & Alienate People” (2008), adapted from British writer Toby Young's 2001 memoir of the same name. She also played the role of Bridget Conway on the made for TV film “Marple: Murder Is Easy” (2008), starring Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple, “Goal! III” (2009) and the role of Tamsin in the direct to video sequel “Goal! III” (2009), which starred JJ field, Leo Gregory, Kuno Becker, Nick Moran and Tamer Hassan, as well as co-starred opposite Sean Brosnan, Brawley Nolte and Nick Nolte in the short film “My Horizon” (2009), by Matt Tromans.    

In 2010, Stilley landed the role of Mischa on the BBC award winning television sitcom “The Trip,” starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. The series was edited into a feature film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010 and was released in the US by IFC Films in 2011.”The Trip” reunited Stilley with “9 Songs” director  Michael Winterbottom. Still in 2010,the actress worked in a Spanish drama film titled “14 Days with Victor,” directed by Román Parrado.

Stilley was cast as Cynthia Plaster-Caster in the British drama film “Hippie Hippie Shake.” The  development of the film began in in 1998 but it received repeated delays. In 2007, the film eventually  started main photography. In 2011, Working Title, which produced the film, announced that the film will not be released in cinemas.
    

Awards:

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