Early life

Tilly was born in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Patricia Ann (née Tilly), a Canadian schoolteacher, and businessman Harry Chan. Her father was Chinese American, and her mother was of Irish, Finnish and First Nations descent. The third of their four children, Meg is younger than brother Steve and sister Jennifer, and older than sister Rebecca.

Following her parents' divorce when she was three, Tilly was raised by her mother and stepfather, John Ward, on rural Texada Island in British Columbia. She later claimed that Ward was a violent pedophile, At the age of 12, Tilly started taking dance lessons, in part to avoid her stepfather, and in a few years had developed into a gifted ballerina.

After graduating from Esquimalt High School in Victoria, British Columbia, Tilly left home and moved to the United States to pursue a career as a professional dancer. In New York City she studied at Madame Darvash's Ballet School where she had received a full scholarship. She joined the Connecticut Ballet Company and later toured with the international Throne Dance Theatre in the late 1970s. She made her screen debut as a dancer in Alan Parker's 1980 musical drama Fame. Tilly's dance career ended in 1979 when a dance partner dropped her in Pas de deux class, causing a serious back injury.

Career

Acting

Forced to give up dancing because of a back injury, Tilly moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actress and studied acting under Peggy Fuery. She made her television debut in the 1981 half-hour drama The Trouble with Grandpa, co-starring Elisha Cook, Jr.. After playing a prostitute in a second season episode of Hill Street Blues, she appeared in her first starring role in the 1982 coming-of-age adventure film Tex with Matt Dillon. In 1983, she appeared in two of the year's most successful films: Psycho II with Anthony Perkins, and Lawrence Kasdan's award-winning ensemble film The Big Chill, with Kevin Kline, Glenn Close, Tom Berenger, William Hurt, Jeff Goldblum, JoBeth Williams and Mary Kay Place. Tilly's appearance in The Big Chill, which was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, helped her career significantly.

In 1985, Tilly landed the acclaimed title role in Norman Jewison's Agnes of God, appearing with Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft. Playing the role of a novitiate 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". Tilly's critically praised performance earned her an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award.

Tilly later appeared in Valmont (1989), The Two Jakes (1990) with Jack Nicholson and Leaving Normal (1992) with Christine Lahti, as well as the 1993 horror film, Body Snatchers. Tilly was the first choice for the role of Constanze Mozart in Miloš Forman's film Amadeus, having received glowing appraisals of her rehearsal work by both her would-be costar Tom Hulce and director Forman. However, she sustained a leg injury playing soccer and had to abandon the project. The role later went to Elizabeth Berridge.

Tilly returned to acting in 2010, portraying the Blessed Mother, a Pope-like figure in the Caprica episode "Unvanquished". In 2011 she played Martha in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, presented by the Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre in Victoria, B.C.

In January 2012 Global Television in Canada launched the six-part Bomb Girls about women who work in a munitions factory during World War II. Tilly stars as Lorna, the emotionally closed floor matron who blossoms as a leader and an appealing woman. She won the 2013 Lead Actress, Drama Canadian Screen Award for her work on the series.

Writing

Tilly is the author of five published novels. In 1994, Tilly's first novel Singing Songs was published by Dutton to generally positive reviews. Donna Rifkind from Publishers Weekly called the book "an impressive first novel", and the New York Times Book Review praised Tilly for "the remarkable coherence and clarity" of Anna's narrative voice. The book is about a young girl and her sisters living in the Northwest who are molested by their stepfather.

Her second novel Gemma was published in 2006 by the Syren Book Company. 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.

Her third novel Porcupine was published in 2007 by Tundra Books. The book is about a twelve-year-old girl, Jacqueline "Jack" Cooper, whose life is shattered by the death of her father by friendly fire in the War in Afghanistan. Porcupine was a finalist for the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize.

Her fourth novel First Time was published in 2008 by Orca Book Publishers. 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.

Tilly's fifth and latest novel A Taste of Heaven was published in 2013 by Puffin Books. 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". 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.

Personal life

In 1983, Tilly married her first husband, Tim Zinnemann, an American film producer and son of film director Fred Zinnemann. They met on the set of her first film, Tex. The marriage produced two children, Emily (born 1984) and David (born 1986), and ended in divorce in 1989.

In 1989 Tilly began a 5-year relationship with British actor Colin Firth, whom she met during the filming of Valmont. They moved from Los Angeles to a log house on five acres of mountainside property about an hour outside Vancouver near the town of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Their relationship produced a son, William "Will" (born 1990), and ended in 1994.

In 1995 Tilly married her second husband, John Calley, an American film studio executive and producer 30 years her senior. They moved to Los Angeles where Calley worked as president and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The marriage ended in divorce in 2002.

In 2002 Tilly married her third and current husband, author Don Calame, who writes fiction for adolescents. They met during a writing seminar in Big Sur, California. The couple live in Toronto. Tilly has three children and one grandson, Ory.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Fame	Principal Dancer
1982	Tex	Jamie Collins
1983	One Dark Night	Julie Wells
1983	Psycho II	Mary Loomis
1983	The Big Chill	Chloe
1984	Impulse	Jennifer
1985	Agnes of God	Sister Agnes
1986	Off Beat	Rachel Wareham
1988	Masquerade	Olivia Lawrence
1988	The Girl in a Swing	Karin
1989	Valmont	Madame de Tourvel
1990	The Two Jakes	Kitty Berman
1992	Leaving Normal	Marianne
1993	Body Snatchers	Carol Malone
1994	Sleep with Me	Sarah
2016	Antibirth	Lorna
2016	War Machine	Jeanie McChrystal

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Trouble with Grandpa	Dorie	TV special
1982	Hill Street Blues	Hooker	Episode: "Some Like It Hot-Wired"
1989	Nightmare Classics	Carmilla	Episode: "Carmilla"
1990	In the Best Interest of the Child	Jennifer Colton	TV film
1993	Road to Avonlea	Evelyn Grier	Episode: "Evelyn"
1993	Fallen Angels	Lois Weldon	Episode: "Dead-End for Delia"
1994	Winnetka Road	George Grace	Main role (6 episodes)
1994	Trick of the Eye	Faith Crowell	TV film
1995	Journey	Min	TV film
2010	Caprica	Mother	Episodes: "Unvanquised", "The Heavens Will Rise"
2012-2013	Bomb Girls	Lorna Corbett	Main role (18 episodes)
2014	Bomb Girls: Facing the Enemy	Lorna Corbett	TV film

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Production	Result
1984	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress	Psycho II	Nominated
1986	Academy Award	Best Supporting Actress	Agnes of God	Nominated
1986	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture	Agnes of God	Won
2012	Leo Award	Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series	Bomb Girls	Won
2012	Golden Nymph Award	Outstanding Actress in a Mini-Series	Bomb Girls	Nominated
2013	Golden Nymph Award	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series	Bomb Girls	Nominated
2013	Gemini Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role	Bomb Girls	Nominated
2014	ACTRA Award	Outstanding Performance - Female	Bomb Girls	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]