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Sarah Polley

Acting

Born January 8, 1979 · Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Also known as Sara Polley

Biography

Sarah Ellen Polley OC (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian filmmaker, political activist and retired actress. She first garnered attention as a child actress for her role as Ramona Quimby in the television series Ramona, based on Beverly Cleary's books. This subsequently led to her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series Road to Avonlea (1990–1996). She has starred in many feature films, including The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Exotica (1994), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), Guinevere (1999), Go (1999), The Weight of Water (2000), No Such Thing (2001), My Life Without Me (2003), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Splice (2009), and Mr. Nobody (2009). Polley made her feature film directorial debut with Away from Her (2006), for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Director and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Polley's second film, Take This Waltz (2011), premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival, followed by her first documentary film, Stories We Tell (2012). She also wrote the miniseries Alias Grace, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood. In 2022, Polley wrote and directed the film Women Talking, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sarah Polley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Awards & recognition

  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 2023
  • Writers Guild of America Award · 2023
  • Canada's Walk of Fame · 2010
  • Canadian Comedy AwardBest Performance by a Female – Film
  • Governor General's Performing Arts Award
Show all 11 awards →
  • John Dunning Best First Feature Award
  • Officer of the Order of Canada
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 2023 · nominated
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Screenplay · 2023 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 2008 · nominated
  • European Film AwardBest Actress · 2006 · nominated

Filmography39 titles

Avonlea

1990as Sara Stanley

Mr. Nobody

2009as Adult Elise

The Studio

2025as Sarah Polley

John Adams

2008as Abigail Adams Smith

Slings and Arrows

2003as Sophie

Friday the 13th: The Series

1987as Mary

Alias Grace

2017Creator, Producer, Teleplay, Writer

Stories We Tell

2012as Self (uncredited)

Dawn of the Dead

2004as Ana

Away from Her

2006Director, Writer

The Secret Life of Words

2005as Hanna

Go

1999as Ronna Martin

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

1988as Sally Salt

The Sweet Hereafter

1997as Nicole Burnell

Women Talking

2022Director, Screenplay

Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word After a Word Is Power

2019as Self - Filmmaker

eXistenZ

1999as Merle

Last Night

1998as Jennifer Wheeler

Exotica

1994as Tracey

Take This Waltz

2011Director, Producer, Writer

Jerry and Tom

1998as Deb

Don't Come Knocking

2005as Sky

The Hanging Garden

1997as Teen Rosemary

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

2015as Self

My Life Without Me

2003as Ann

No Such Thing

2001as Beatrice

The Claim

2000as Hope Burn

Splice

2009as Elsa

The I Inside

2004as Clair

One Magic Christmas

1985as Molly Monaghan

The Event

2003as Dana Shapiro

Guinevere

1999as Harper Sloane

Babar: The Movie

1989as Young Celeste

Seven Veils

2023Thanks

Beowulf & Grendel

2005as Selma

Love Come Down

2000as Sister Sarah

The Weight of Water

2000as Maren Hontvedt

Blue Monkey

1987as Ellen

The Planet of Junior Brown

1997as Butter