 Her great-grandfather George Bilson, born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, UK, worked for RKO Pictures, where he headed the movie trailer department, and her great-grandmother Hattie Bilson was a screenwriter whose credits include "Pal, Canine Detective" (1950).Bilson's classmates at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, included actress Kirsten Dunst, actor Rami Malek, and "American Idol" runner-up singer Katharine McPhee.Bilson attended Grossmont College, a community college in a suburb of San Diego, taking her father's advice to pursue a professional acting career.