Maryam d'Abo was born to a Georgian mother and Dutch father, d'Abo was raised in Paris and Geneva. Girl decided to be an actress at the age of 11. She studied at London's Drama Centre while working as a model in commercials. In 1983 she made her screen debut in the low-budget British science fiction/horror film Xtro, playing a French au pair who becomes an alien breeding chamber (or a human incubator). Xtro was briefly vilified as a so-called video nasty, and it is often mentioned in the same breath as many other video nasties of the early 80s, but in fact it was granted an uncut video certificate by the BBFC, shortly after its successful cinema run. Talking to Femme Fatales magazine in 1994, d'Abo remembered it as "a terrible movie".

d'Abo remains best known for her role as Kara Milovy, the sweet and vulnerable Czechoslovakian cellist and sniper who falls for James Bond in The Living Daylights. It remains her personal favourite film. d'Abo did a Playboy cover in September 1987 to coincide with the film's release but regretted it later saying that she "really disliked" the pictures, because they were "so pedestrian".