Marilyn comes from a Puerto Rican family background in New York, born the middle child to Jeronimo and Luisa Ghigliotti and raised in NY, Long Island and New Jersey with her siblings, Evelyn and Leonardo. Of course there's a lot of spunk and attitude. This Jersey New Yorican had to learn to survive many moves and changes in surrounding cultures.

Marilyn got started late when it comes to acting. While going through some life challenges, she decided to study acting at the Actors Training Institute in Red Bank New Jersey with John Eyd, a member of the Actors Studio in New York, where he brought those same acting techniques to New Jersey.

After studying for about 2 years, Marilyn then felt confident enough to start auditioning in the community theater circuit in Southern New Jersey, appearing in many classic plays. After appearing in her first production, standing on that stage where people were actually listening to her words instead of being ignored as most middle children feel, she was hooked. During one of these many plays, is also where she met Brian O'Halloran before the two auditioned and landed their parts in Kevin Smith's iconic film Clerks.

Since moving to LA, Marilyn has worked in salons, offices and as a freelance hair and makeup artist. She also has worked both in front and behind the camera in many aspects of the filmmaking business to learn as much as possible. Marilyn has waited for the right time and opportunity to finally stretch and challenge herself into directing.