Margarita Levieva

  Margarita Vladimirovna Levieva (Russian: Margarita Vladimirovna Levieva; born 9 February 1980) is a Russian-American actress. Levieva was born in then Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), into a family of Russian-Jewish descent. Both of her grandmothers, as children, survived the siege of Leningrad. From the age of three she began to engage in rhythmic gymnastics.Levieva emigrated to the United States at age 11 with her mother and twin brother Michael, and settled in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. Though she was accepted into Laguardia High School to study dance, she instead attended public high school in Secaucus, New Jersey.In addition to working full-time as a fashion buyer, Levieva graduated a year early from New York University with a double major in economics and psychology and minors in philosophy, sociology, and Russian history. Levieva went on to complete the Meisner Acting Program at the William Esper Studio in New York.