Women's History Month Biography: Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley is often called the indie queen. She has starred in independent films throughout the past decade and even before. Although she made a critically acclaimed directing debut with "Away from Her" in 2007, she has continued to act as well, something she has done since before kindergarten.

Sarah Polley has been in front of the camera most of her life. Born on January 8, 1979 as the youngest of five children to two actors, Michael and Diane Polley. In addition to being actress, her mom Diane also worked as a casting director. When Sarah expressed an interest in acting in early childhood, her parents were supportive of her. Young Sarah soon found herself acting in the now Christmas classic, One Magic Christmas, when she was only six years old; it was filmed in 1985.

Sarah soon landed the role of Ramona, a television series based on the classic children's books by Beverly Cleary. It aired in Canada and on PBS in the United States. It debuted on September 10, 1988. Although it only lasted for one reason, it became enormously popular among kids of my (Sarah's) generation. As a kid who had already read the books, I just loved this screen adaptation, and it was my first introduction to Sarah.

Sarah went on to star in the feature film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and several made-for-TV movies. However, Sarah truly became a star in 1989 when she landed the role of Sara Stanley in Kevin Sullivan's Road to Avonlea, which was simply called Avonlea in the United States. Kevin Sullivan was known for making quality films and mini-series based on the works of Lucy Maud Montgomery after the phenomenal success he had with Anne of Green Gables and its sequel. In the show, Sarah played Sara Stanley, an independent spirit and new girl in town. The show was a joint venture for CBC and the Disney Channel. It became a huge hit in the United States and Canada, and it made Sarah a young star.

Representing Avonlea, Sarah and co-stars Mag Ruffman and Gema Zamprogna even were in the Hollywood Christmas Parade. There was a fan club for the show, in which the young actors wrote articles and promoted environmentalism. They were on the cover of the Disney Channel's magazine, and the stars of the show were becoming household names. Although she achieved fame at a very young age, Sarah never sought fame, and she later described bewilderment at why anybody would want fame.

Early in the show's run, Sarah's mother Diane passed away only days after her eleventh birthday. Her character Sara in Road to Avonlea had grown up without a mother. After Sarah's own personal loss, the writers of the series brought out the loss in the character's story lines, something that was difficult for the young actress, as she admitted in an interview several years later. She ultimately left Avonlea before the show was ultimately canceled in 2006, although she did return for two episodes of the show, including its emotionally overwhelming last episode.

Sarah first became known as an independent film actress with her two roles in films by Atom Egoyan, Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter. Sarah also lent her voice to the soundtrack of The Sweet Hereafter, revealing a true talent for singing.

It seemed as though the world would lose out on Sarah's remarkable acting forever in the late 1990s. Sarah confessed a disenchantment with acting, and she became quite active in politics. As a child, she had shown early signs of activism in her refusal to remove a peace sign in protest of the Gulf War, even after Disney bigwigs asked her to do so; she also wrote seriously in the newsletter put out by the cast of Avonlea to the fans. Young Sarah lost two teeth in a row with riot police when she was protesting conservative government, and she was a prominent member of the New Democratic Party in Canada. Recently, she has scaled down her activism.

Luckily, strong and irresistible parts drew Sarah Polley back into acting, and she has acted throughout the first decade of the new millennium. She acted in many films, including Dawn of the Dead, No Such Thing, The Claim, My Life Without Me, The Event, Don't Come Knocking, and Mr. Nobody.

On September 10, 2003, Sarah married her long-time love David Wharnsby, who had been her companion for seven years. She credited being at the beginning of her loving marriage and being so young that made her drawn to the story in Away from Her, which became her directorial debut. It's a story about what a couple's relationship looks like as they are old and have betrayed one another and gone through so much of life.

Sarah Polley has been happily married since 2003. Around the time of her directorial debut, she said of David, "My relationship [with him] is the thing I'm proudest of in my life. I had a lot of opportunities to end up in some pretty bad situations and, despite all my faults, I had the sense to find someone like him and make the decision to be with him. You spend a lot of time wanting to be with the wrong person and I just feel incredibly lucky because I've succeeded at that one thing. I figured that out."

The awards that Sarah has won and been nominated for are numerous, especially for someone who has just turned 31. Sarah won the ACTRA award. She was nominated for an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in Away From Her. She has won and been nominated for Genie awards and Gemini awards. She even won an Independent Spirit Award for her acting in Go.

Sarah Polley deserves to be celebrated during Women's History Month because she has contributed a lot to the arts, and she brings a lot of integrity, intelligence and creativity to the film industry. Her accomplishments remain unmatched by anyone else in her age group, and her potential is just as exciting as her past credits.

Sources cited:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001631/
http://www.sarahpolley.org/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094533/
http://www.cbc.ca/?nophp
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=20149
http://www.tv.com/person/38705/summary.html