“…<smile>…”

Marilyn is the oldest of the “Northern Burns” crew - she lives with her family in Michigan, where she is currently attending local Oakland University, and is planning to graduate this spring with a music degree. She currently works as a private music instructor and performer, and is heavily involved in her church, where she has directed the children’s choir and string orchestra. Interested in Christian ministry, Marilyn serves as a college ministry team leader, and has been on several missions trips. She always loves playing the piano and violin, and enjoys most forms of creative art, whether music, writing, or calligraphy.

Marilyn acted the part of Wenneveria in the film, and also managed costuming. She loves making (and wearing!) period costumes, and really enjoyed that aspect of the project. In her acting role, she also loved horseback riding, as well as a bit of sword choreography… Always interested in hands-on creativity, one of her favorite tasks was creating detailed maps and lettering for various scenes. During the post-production phase, Marilyn was able to use another passion – music – in partnering with her brother Aaron to complete the soundtrack.

One of Marilyn’s favorite scenes was the mock sword fight with her on-screen (and off-screen) father. “It was really special to get to do that with my own dad… and the sword fighting was pretty awesome…” Her least favorite scene? “Well, the hardest one was definitely the final sword fight at night – I didn’t have too many lines, but I wound up spending the better part of a week tied up to a pole in the middle of a swamp… Still, the fire effects were pretty fun. Actually, I was generally quite happy when the flames got high – nice and toasty warm!”

Although most of her acting is quite serious, off-camera Marilyn can rarely stop smiling – and even in between shots one might catch a glimpse of the trade-mark ear-to-ear grin....