Tilly, the third of four children, was born Margaret E. Chan in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Patricia Tilly, a schoolteacher, and Harry Chan, a Chinese American used car salesman. Meg Tilly Biography (c. 1960-) Following her parents' divorce when she was three, she was raised by her mother and stepfather, John Ward, on rural Texada Island in British Columbia, Canada. Tilly graduated from Esquimalt High School in Victoria, British Columbia. She has a brother, Steve, and two sisters, Rebecca, and fellow actress Jennifer (born 1958).

As a teen, she was involved with the Connecticut Ballet Company, as well as the Throne Dance Theatre, and made her screen debut with Alan Parker's Fame in 1980.

After a serious back injury forced her to stop dancing, she became an actress. She appeared in films such as The Big Chill and Psycho II before her acclaimed title role in Agnes of God, for which she received an Oscar nomination and won a Golden Globe. Tilly later appeared in Valmont, The Two Jakes with Jack Nicholson and Leaving Normal, as well as the 1993 horror film Body Snatchers.

Tilly was the first choice for the role of Constanze Mozart in Milos 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 was in the 10th episode of Caprica broadcast on October 5th 2010, her first on screen appearance since 1995.

Tilly has written a novel entitled Singing Songs, comprising a series of vignettes about a young girl whose stepfather molests her and her sisters. A second novel, Gemma, came out in October 2006. Her third novel, Porcupine, is a finalist for the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize. Tilly also wrote a novel, First Time, published in 2008.

According to Tilly's book Singing Songs, she and her sisters grew up surrounded by poverty and abuse. They were sexually molested by their stepfather. The book is written in first person and the narrator has a very child-like voice. In her website foreword, Tilly states that although the stories are fictional, they are based on her childhood experiences.

Tilly has three children: Emily (born 1984) and David (born 1986), by her marriage to film producer Tim Zinnemann, which ended in 1989, and a son, Will (born 1990), from her five-year relationship with British actor Colin Firth. Her second husband, John Calley, was 30 years her senior. He is a former president of Sony Pictures; they were married in 1995 and divorced in 2002.

Now remarried and living in British Columbia, Tilly has not appeared in a film since 1995 (although she has made an appearance in Caprica in late 2010), having decided to retire from acting in order to raise her children and write.

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films, USA

• 1984, Best Actress for Psycho II, (Nomination)

Academy Awards

• 1986, Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Agnes of God, (Nomination)

Golden Globe Awards

• 1986, Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Movie for Agnes of God, (won)