Marling was most recently seen in the return of The OA, the critically acclaimed Netflix series in which she stars and co-creates alongside director Zal Batmanglij, and also features Kingsley Ben-Adir, Jason Issacs and Emory Cohen. Part II is a mind-bending story that follows OA (Marling) as she navigates a new dimension, one in which she had a completely different life as a Russian heiress and one in which she once again finds herself as a captive.

Prior to this, Marling’s film credits include Daniel Barber's The Keeping Room opposite Hailee Steinfeld, Muna Otaru and Sam Worthington; AJ Edwards’ The Better Angels opposite Diane Kruger and Jason Clarke; Mike Cahill’s I Origins opposite Alexander Skarsgård and Ellen Page; Zal Batmanglij's The East, which she also co-wrote and co-produced; Robert Redford's The Company You Keep, co-starring alongside Redford, Shia LaBeouf, and Stanley Tucci; as well as Nicholas Jarecki's financial thriller Arbitrage, co-starring opposite Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, and Laetitia Casta.

In 2011, Marling made an indelible mark at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival as the first female multi-hyphenate to have two films premiere side by side. Marling's first feature length narrative film, Another Earth, premiered at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category. Directed by Mike Cahill, Marling starred, co-wrote and co-produced the film. Her second feature length film, Sound of My Voice, premiered at Sundance in the Next category. Directed by Zal Batmanglij, Marling starred, co-wrote and co-produced the film. Fox Searchlight acquired both films following the festival premieres, and released them in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Marling was nominated for Independent Spirit Awards for both films in the categories of Best First Feature (alongside Cahill, Hunter Gray and Nicholas Shumacher) and Best First Screenplay (alongside Cahill) for Another Earth and for Best Supporting Female and Best First Feature (alongside Batmanglij, Hans C. Ritter, and Shelley Surpin) for Sound of My Voice.

Most notably on the small screen, Marling was also seen starring in the UK series Babylon, created by Danny Boyle and written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. Marling portrayed Liz Garvey, an American visionary from the world of new media, who enters the London police force’s public relations department, which is struggling to keep up in an age of rolling news, smartphones, and a news-breaking, information-hungry public.

Marling was introduced to filmmaking during her college years at Georgetown University, where she began writing and starring in films that she and her friends were making. This led her to take a leave of absence from school in order to move to Havana, Cuba to co-direct the documentary Boxers and Ballerinas, which followed young artists and athletes living in the communist country. Marling graduated valedictorian from Georgetown, having studied economics and studio art. Realizing that acting and filmmaking were what she found most fulfilling, she followed her passions and moved to Los Angeles, where she currently resides.