Margarita Levieva

Margarita Vladimirovna Levieva (Russian: Маргари́та Влади́мировна Леви́ева; born February 9, 1980) is a Russian-American actress. Born in the Soviet Union, she was a competitive gymnast before going on to star in the films The Invisible, Adventureland, and Spread. On television, she is known for her role as the faux Amanda Clarke/real Emily Thorne on Revenge and as Gina Zanetakos on The Blacklist. Personal life Levieva was born in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). She is from a Russian Jewish family. At the age of three, she began training in rhythmic gymnastics. When she was 11, Levieva's mother moved her and her twin brother to Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn in New York City. She continued to train in rhythmic gymnastics for a few more years after immigrating to the United States and achieved success regionally but did not compete at the U.S. Championships; she did not then hold U.S. citizenship and her family were undocumented immigrants at the time. She attended high school in Secaucus, New Jersey. Levieva received her bachelor's degree in economics at NYU and worked as a fashion buyer. Her continuing interest in acting led her to be accepted into the Meisner Training Program at the William Esper Studio. In 2009, Levieva and actor Sebastian Stan starred in the film Spread. They had been reported to be good friends leading up to 2014, when they were reported to be dating. Career Levieva made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Trial by Jury in 2005. In 2005, New York Magazine featured her as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in New York. In 2006, she starred in the Fox series, Vanished. Her feature film credits include The Invisible, the independent film Billy's Choice, and Noise starring Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, and William Hurt. In 2009, Levieva played Lisa P. in the comedy Adventureland. The same year, she made an appearance in the NBC drama Kings (in the episode "First Night") and starred in the play The Retributionists. She also starred in the HBO comedy-drama series How to Make it in America. In 2011, she appeared in the thriller film The Lincoln Lawyer, with Matthew McConaughey. Her other film credits include The Stand Up, Knights of Badassdom, For Ellen, and Loft. From 2011 to 2013, Levieva appeared on the ABC drama series Revenge in the recurring role of the original Emily Thorne, who agreed to switch identities with Amanda Clarke (Emily VanCamp). In 2012, it was announced she would join the second season of HBO's Luck in the recurring role of Sarah Israel. However, the series was canceled after its first season.