Want fewer ads?

Vivian Schilling (born 1968) is an American novelist, screenwriter and actress.

Born and raised in Kansas, Schilling attended Wichita State University on a Miller Scholarship for Theatre before moving to Los Angeles. She studied at the The Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and also under the legendary Stella Adler before embarking upon a dual career as a screenwriter and actress. Working both in front and behind the camera, she began writing and starring in her own films at the age of twenty-three.

With her first feature-length film, Soultaker, Schilling received the Saturn Award in 1992. She went on to star in a number of other films including the Polish film Niemcy, a World War II drama based on the renowned stage play by Leon Kruczkowski. In the film, Schilling portrays heroine Ruth Sonnenbruch, a German nightclub singer who comes to the aid of a Jewish refugee. Her most recent portrayal was real-life feminist and author Gertrude Atherton (b.1857-1948) opposite Campbell Scott's Ambrose Bierce (b.1842-1915?) in the film anthology Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories.

Schilling has penned two novels, Quietus (Hannover House, Penguin) and Sacred Prey (St. Martin's Press). Interweaving heavy philosophical themes with complex story lines, both novels have some element of the supernatural and explore immortality, existentialism and religious conflict.

With her first feature, the low-budget cult-classic Soultaker, she became known for her original ideas and deft hand with complex supernatural subjects. "A very intriguing premise distinguishes the thriller Soultaker. Young star-scripter Vivian Schilling earns high marks for this effort her innovation for horror/fantasy fans creating a new myth about potential afterlife," said Larry Cohn of Variety. In spite of its limited budget, the film earned Schilling the Saturn Award alongside that year's Silence of the Lambs and Terminator 2. It should be noted though that Soultaker was straight to video and won the Saturn Award in that category. It did not compete with the theatrically released films Silence of the Lambs and Terminator 2.

Schilling resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Vivian Schilling", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0