Ms. Polley was born January 8th, 1979 to Michael and Diane Polley. Her family is involved with the entertainment industry; her father an actor and her mother a casting director who has since died of cancer in 1990.
Sara debuted in films at age 6 with One Magic Christmas. At nine, she won North American critical acclaim for her role in the TV series Ramona, and went on to win international recognition for her role in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Sarah also starred in the TV series "Road to Avonlea", playing the character of Sara Stanley for five seasons, and won a Gemini for this performance.
During the Gulf War, Polley (aged 12) attended a children's awards show in Washington DC and was seated at a table with some representatives from Disney. When she refused to remove her peace symbol as they requested, Disney blacklisted her. In 1994, at age 15, Polley moved out of her parents' home into her own apartment. Then, at a political protest in Queens Park, 1995, there was a violent clash between police and protesters, and she lost some back teeth.
Sarah's claim to fame came from her breakthrough screen role in Atom Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter, for which she won Best Supporting Actress award from the Boston Society of Film Critics in 1997.
(Factoid: Polley was originally cast by Cameron Crowe to play the character 'Penny Lane' in Almost Famous, but the role eventually went to Kate Hudson.)
Ms. Polley is well-read with a keen mind, and is considered a crusader for social issues, working with the Canadian Peace Alliance. She dropped out of high school to become a political activist and in several interviews, she has stated being a vegetarian.
Sarah Polley can be reached (possibly; this may be outdated) by desperate fans at:
Sarah Polley
c/o Credentials
131 Bloor Street W., Ste 515.E
Toronto, Ontario Canada M5S 1R1
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001631/