Biography
Russian gymnast-turned-actress Margarita Levieva played the object of desire in films including "Spread" (2009), "Adventureland" (2009) and "The Stand Up" (2010) before landing recurring roles on "How to Make It in America" (HBO, 2010-11), "Revenge" (ABC, 2011-2015) and "Allegiance" (NBC, 2015). Born in Leningrad, Russia in 1980, Levieva trained as a rhythmic gymnast from a young age and after emigrating to Brooklyn with her mother and twin brother aged eleven, continued to compete well into her teenage years. After graduating from New York University with a degree in Economics, Levieva began to pursue a career as an actress, attending the Meisner Training Program at the William Esper Studio and appearing in a number of failed pilots. Levieva made her first notable on-screen appearance in an episode of "Law and Order: Trial by Jury" (NBC, 2005-06) in 2005, before landing a recurring role as Marcy Collins, the daughter of a missing Georgia senator, in unresolved mystery drama "Vanished" (Fox, 2006). A year later, Levieva made her film debut as a sorority girl in the improvised "David's Apartment" (2007), and followed it up by playing high school bully Annie Newton in supernatural thriller "The Invisible" (2007), a Russian philosophy student who embarks on an affair with Tim Robbins' married lawyer in comedy drama "Noise" (2007) and the waitress love interest of Ashton Kutcher's gigolo in SoCal satire "Spread" (2009). After guesting on biblical drama "Kings" (NBC, 2009), Levieva lit up the big screen as alluring ride attendant Lisa P. in Greg Mottola's nostalgic coming-of-age film "Adventureland" (2009), enjoyed a six-episode stint as Ben's girlfriend Julie in hipster New York TV drama "How to Make It in America" (HBO, 2010-11) and played kindergarten teacher Veronica in indie tragi-comedy "The Stand Up" (2010). Levieva then appeared as the prostitute Ryan Phillippe's playboy is accused of brutally beating in Michael Connelly adaptation "The Lincoln Lawyer" (2011) and joined the cast of prime-time soap "Revenge" (ABC, 2011-15) as the real Emily Thorne before appearing as Paul Dano's estranged wife in Sundance hit "For Ellen" (2012), a bloodthirsty Succubus in comedy horror "Knights of Badassdom" (2013) and a corporate terrorist in popular crime drama "The Blacklist" (NBC, 2013-). After adding to her filmography with the roles of Matthias Schoenaerts' wife in the remake of Belgian erotic mystery "The Loft" (2014) and streetwise lesbian Tabatha in graphic novel adaptation "The Diary of a Teenage Girl" (2015), Levieva was cast as SVR spy Natalie O'Connor in short-lived espionage drama "Allegiance" (NBC, 2015).
