Meg Tilly | |
|---|---|
 Tilly in 2013 | |
| Born | Margaret Elizabeth Chan (1960-02-14)February 14, 1960 (age 65) Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active |
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| Spouses | |
| Partner | Colin Firth (1989–1994) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Jennifer Tilly (sister) |
Meg Tilly (bornMargaret Elizabeth Chan on February 14, 1960)[1] is an American-Canadian actress and writer.[2]
For her role in the 1985 filmAgnes of God, she won aGolden Globe Award and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other film roles includePsycho II (1983),The Big Chill (1983),Masquerade (1988), andValmont (1989). For her role in the television seriesBomb Girls (2012–13), she won the2013 Canadian Screen Award for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Tilly has also written multiple novels, includingPorcupine (2007), which was a finalist for theSheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.
Tilly was born on February 14, 1960, inLong Beach, California, to Patricia Ann (née Tilly), a Canadian teacher, and businessman Harry Chan.[3] Her father was Chinese-American, while her mother was of Irish and Finnish descent.[4] She is the younger sister of actressJennifer Tilly.
Following her parents' divorce when she was three, Tilly was raised by her mother and stepfather, John Ward, on ruralTexada Island inBritish Columbia, Canada. She later said that Ward was a violent pedophile.[5][6] At the age of 12, Tilly started taking dance lessons, in part to avoid her stepfather,[5] and in a few years had developed into a gifted ballerina.[3]
Tilly attendedEsquimalt High School inEsquimalt, British Columbia, and alsoChief Sealth International High School inSeattle, Washington, where she is listed among its alumni. After graduating from high school, Tilly left home and moved to the United States to pursue a career as a professional dancer.[3] In New York City she studied with Madame Darvash and Melissa Hayden on full scholarship. She joined the Connecticut Ballet Company.[3] She made her screen debut (somewhat ironically) as a dancer inAlan Parker's 1980 musical dramaFame, despite the fact that Tilly's dance career had been halted in 1979, when a dance partner dropped her, leading to a serious back injury.[3]
Forced to give up dancing because of complications stemming from her back injury, Tilly moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actress and studied acting underPeggy Feury. She made her television debut in the 1982 half-hour dramaThe Trouble with Grandpa, co-starringElisha Cook Jr. After playing a prostitute in a second-season episode ofHill Street Blues, she appeared in her first starring role in the 1982 coming-of-age adventure filmTex withMatt Dillon.
In 1983, after she starred as the lead in thesupernatural horror filmOne Dark Night, she appeared inPsycho II withAnthony Perkins, and Lawrence Kasdan's award-winning ensemble filmThe Big Chill, withKevin Kline,Glenn Close,Tom Berenger,William Hurt,Jeff Goldblum,JoBeth Williams andMary Kay Place. Tilly's appearance inThe Big Chill, which was nominated for threeAcademy Awards, including Best Picture, helped her career significantly.[3] In 1984, she starred in the movieImpulse.
Tilly was the first choice for the role ofConstanze Mozart inMiloš Forman's filmAmadeus, having received glowing appraisals of her rehearsal work by both her would-be costarTom Hulce and director Forman. However, she sustained a leg injury playing soccer and had to abandon the project. The role later went toElizabeth Berridge.
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In 1985, Tilly landed the acclaimed title role inNorman Jewison'sAgnes of God, appearing withJane Fonda andAnne Bancroft. Playing the role of anovitiate nun who confesses her involvement in a virgin conception, Tilly "delivered a magnificent portrayal of a tormented young woman experiencing the ultimate crisis of faith".[3] Tilly's critically praised performance earned her anAcademy Award nomination and aGolden Globe Award.[7]
Tilly later appeared inValmont (1989),The Two Jakes (1990) withJack Nicholson andLeaving Normal (1992) withChristine Lahti, as well as the 1993 horror filmBody Snatchers. After this, she stopped acting for the next 15 years.[8]
Tilly returned to acting in 2010, portraying the Blessed Mother, a Pope-like figure in theCaprica episode "Unvanquished". In 2011 she played Martha inEdward Albee'sWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,[9] presented by the Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre in Victoria, B.C.[10]
In January 2012,Global in Canada launched the six-partBomb Girls about women who work in a munitions factory during World War II.[11] Tilly stars as Lorna, the emotionally closed floor matron who blossoms as a leader and an appealing woman.[12] She won the 2013 Lead Actress, DramaCanadian Screen Award for her work on the series.
Tilly is the author of multiple published novels. In 1994, Tilly's first novelSinging Songs was published by Dutton to generally positive reviews. Donna Rifkind fromPublishers Weekly called the book "an impressive first novel", and theNew York Times Book Review praised Tilly for "the remarkable coherence and clarity" of Anna's narrative voice.[13] The book is about a young girl and her sisters living in the Northwest who are molested by their stepfather.[14]
Her second novelGemma was published in 2006 by the Syren Book Company.[15] and picked up by St. Martin's Press in 2010. The book is about a twelve-year-old girl who is kidnapped and taken on a cross-country journey in which she is physically and sexually abused by her captor.[15]
Her third novelPorcupine was published in 2007 by Tundra Books.[16] The book is about a twelve-year-old girl, Jacqueline "Jack" Cooper, whose life is shattered by the death ofher father byfriendly fire in theWar in Afghanistan.[16]Porcupine was a finalist for theSheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize, shortlisted for The Canadian Libraries Association Best Children's Book 2008, Foreword Magazine Book of the Year and was an Ontario Library Best Bets 2008.
Her fourth novelFirst Time was published in 2008 by Orca Book Publishers.[17] The novel is about a sixteen-year-old who is molested and physically abused by her mother's boyfriend, and must deal with the trauma alone without the help of her mother or best friend.[17]First Time was a 2009 Golden Eagle Award Nominee, a 2009 YALSA Quick Picks and 2010 CCBC Best Books.
Tilly's fifth novelA Taste of Heaven was published in 2013 by Puffin Books.[18] A departure from the darker themes of Tilly's previous work, the novel is about two young girls who become friends who experience the "comical, sometimes bittersweet and melodramatic trials and tribulations of tweenhood".[19] One reviewer wrote, "Tilly paints an insightful, memorable portrait of the ups and downs of friendship and the unwavering bonds of family, delving into age-old issues of honesty, trust, and loyalty.[19]A Taste Of Heaven was shortlisted for the 2014 Libris Young Reader Book of the Year, a 2014 Diamond Willow Award and won the 2014/2015 Chocolate Lilly Award.
Her sixth novel,Behind the Scenes, was published in 2014 by Puffin Books (Canada).[20][21]
In 2018, Tilly published the first of three books in herSolace Island trilogy, a series of romantic thrillers about a young woman, Maggie Harris, dating a mysterious handsome man after recently being dumped by her fiancé. It was quickly followed by two sequels,Cliff's Edge andHidden Cove.
In 2021, Tilly's latest novel, the new romantic thrillerThe Runaway Heiress, was published.
In 1983, Tilly marriedTim Zinnemann, an American film producer and son of film directorFred Zinnemann. They met on the set of her first film,Tex. The couple had two children, Emily (born 1984) and David (born 1986).[citation needed] The marriage ended in divorce in 1989.
In 1989, Tilly began a 5-year relationship with British actorColin Firth, whom she met during the filming ofValmont. They moved from Los Angeles to a log house on five acres of mountainside property about an hour outside Vancouver near the town ofMaple Ridge, British Columbia.[citation needed] They have one son, William Joseph (born 1990).[22]
In 1995, Tilly marriedJohn Calley, an American film studio executive and producer 30 years her senior. They moved to Los Angeles, where Calley worked as president and CEO ofSony Pictures Entertainment. The marriage ended in divorce in 2002.[23]
In 2002, Tilly married her current husband, author Don Calame, who writes fiction for adolescents. They met during a writing seminar inBig Sur, California.[24]
Since 1999, Tilly has resided in theGulf Islands, British Columbia.[25]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Fame | Principal Dancer | |
| 1982 | Tex | Jamie Collins | |
| One Dark Night | Julie Wells | ||
| 1983 | Psycho II | Mary Loomis | |
| The Big Chill | Chloe | ||
| 1984 | Impulse | Jennifer | |
| 1985 | Agnes of God | Sister Agnes Devereaux | |
| 1986 | Off Beat | Rachel Wareham | |
| 1988 | Masquerade | Olivia Lawrence | |
| The Girl in a Swing | Karin Foster | ||
| 1989 | Valmont | Madame de Tourvel | |
| 1990 | The Two Jakes | Katherine "Kitty" Berman | |
| 1992 | Leaving Normal | Marianne Johnson | |
| 1993 | Body Snatchers | Carol Malone | |
| 1994 | Sleep with Me | Sarah | |
| 2016 | Antibirth | Lorna | |
| 2017 | War Machine | Jeanie McMahon | |
| 2024 | Ordinary Angels | — | Writer only |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–82 | Insight | Cindy / Dori | Episodes: "To Climb a Mountain" / "The Trouble with Grandpa" |
| 1982 | Hill Street Blues | Prostitute | Episode: "Some Like It Hot-Wired" |
| 1989 | Nightmare Classics | Carmilla | Episode: "Carmilla" |
| 1990 | In the Best Interest of the Child | Jennifer Colton | Television film |
| 1993 | Road to Avonlea | Evelyn Grier | Episode: "Evelyn" |
| Fallen Angels | Lois Weldon | Episode: "Dead-End for Delia" | |
| 1994 | Winnetka Road | George Grace | Main cast (6 episodes) |
| Trick of the Eye | Faith Crowell | Television film | |
| 1995 | Journey | Min | |
| 2010 | Caprica | Blessed Mother | Episodes: "Unvanquished" / "The Heavens Will Rise" |
| 2012–13 | Bomb Girls | Lorna Corbett | Main role (19 episodes) |
| 2014 | Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy | Lorna Corbett | Television film |
| 2022 | Chucky | Meg Tilly | Episodes: "Death on Denial" / "Doll on Doll" |
| Year | Title | ISBN | OCLC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Singing Songs[26] | 978-0-525-93778-4 | 29357009[27] | |
| 2006 | Gemma[28] | 978-1-4299-5770-0 | 862069558[29] | |
| 2007 | Porcupine[30] | 978-0-88776-810-1 | 77046068[31] | |
| 2008 | First Time[32] | 978-1-55143-946-4 | 298262290[33] | |
| 2013 | A Taste of Heaven[34] | 978-0-14-318249-8 | 937048604[35] | |
| 2014 | Behind the Scenes[36] | 978-0-14-318251-1 | 874205901[37] | |
| 2018 | Solace Island | 978-0-440-00053-2 | 1122589821[38] | Solace Island series |
| 2019 | Cliff's Edge | 978-0-440-00054-9 | 1077745519[39] | |
| Hidden Cove | 978-0-440-00056-3 | 1090279107[40] | ||
| 2021 | The Runaway Heiress | 978-0-593-20108-4 | 1255182746[41] |
[Meg] is the daughter of Patricia Tilly, an Irish and Finnish schoolteacher and Harry Chan, a Chinese American used car salesman... 'My mother was Irish/Finnish...'
[Jennifer's] father was a Chinese-American stockbroker and her mother an Irish-Canadian.
[Jennifer] Tilly, who owes her exotic looks to her Chinese/Native American blood...
