Biography
Meg Tilly has always been close-mouthed about the date and place of her birth; raised in British Columbia, she aspired to be a dancer, but a serious back injury put an end to this dream. Even so, she made her first film appearance in a bit part as an auditioning dancer in
Fame (1980). For the next few years, she alternated between worthwhile endeavors like
Tex (1982) and bill-paying potboilers like
Psycho II (1983). As Chloe, the very young girlfriend of thirtysomething suicide victim
Kevin Costner in
The Big Chill, Tilly shrivelled the hearts of the audience with her poignant observation, "I don't know very many happy people." In 1985, she earned an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Sister Agnes, a young nun accused of murdering her newborn baby, in
Agnes of God. By the early '90s, her screen appearances became increasingly, frustratingly rare. In 1994, Tilly wrote a slim volume titled Singing Songs, and that same year played a small recurring role on the prime-time TV soap opera Winnetka Road. Meg Tilly is the older sister of actress
Jennifer Tilly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide