Sarah Ellen Polley OC (born January 8, 1979 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter.
Beginning her career at the age of four with a bit part in One Magic Christmas, Polley's first starring role was as Ramona Quimby in the miniseries Ramona. She was also featured in Terry Gilliam's Cult Classic film The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, but first came to national prominence in Road to Avonlea as the lead character Sara Stanley. She later became acclaimed for her roles in indie films, winning a Genie Award for My Life Without Me. Her first mainstream role was as Ana Clark in Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, with other notable performances in Go, eXistenZ, Splice, and the miniseries John Adams.
After directing a few shorts, Polley made her feature directorial debut in 2006 with the drama Away from Her, adapted from Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" about a married couple, Grant and Fiona, whose relationship is strained when Fiona develops Alzheimer's disease. The film, which starred Julie Christie, was an astounding critical success, winning seven of the eight Genie Awards it was nominated for. Polley also wrote and directed the 2011 romantic dramedy Take This Waltz, the 2012 NFB documentary Stories We Tell, and the 2022 drama Women Talking (for which she won the 2023 Academy Award For Best Adapted Screenplay). She also wrote the 2017 drama series Alias Grace, and co-directed the 2020 Canadian comedy web series Hey Lady!. She has stated that she enjoys both acting and directing, as they each use a different part of her brain.
Polley is also known for her political activism, being a prominent member of Canada's New Democratic Party. The impetus was her refusing to take off a peace sign that she wore to a 1991 award ceremony in protest against The Gulf War, much to Disney's chagrin. Their relationship soured, and she left Road to Avonlea as a result. Another notable incident came in 2010 when she directed a two-minute film, The Heart, supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation for the Academy Awards. When she found out that the film had been commissioned by Becel margarine, she had her name removed from the credits. In a 2017 opinion piece
for The New York Times written in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal, she stated that she had refrained from acting for nearly a decade due to Hollywood's treatment of women.
Selected filmography:
- Blue Monkey (1987) as Ellen
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) as Sally Salt
- Babar: The Movie (1989) as Young Celeste (voice)
- Exotica (1994) as Tracey Brown
- The Sweet Hereafter (1997) as Nicole Burnell
- Last Night (1998) as Jennifer Wheeler
- eXistenZ (1999) as Merle
- Go (1999) as Ronna Martin
- No Such Thing (2001) as Beatrice
- My Life Without Me (2003) as Ann
- Dawn of the Dead (2004) as Ana Clark
- Beowulf & Grendel (2005) as Selma
- The Secret Lifeof Words (2005) as Hanna
- Mr. Nobody (2009) as Elise (adult)
- Splice (2009) as Elsa Kast
- Screen Two (1 episode, 1987) as Becky Hawthorne
- Friday the 13th: The Series (1 episode, 1987) as Mary
- Ramona (10 episodes, 1988–89) as Ramona
- Road to Avonlea (67 episodes, 1990–96) as Sara Stanley
- Slings & Arrows (5 episodes, 2006) as Sophie
- John Adams (4 episodes, 2008) as Abigail Adams Smith
- Away from Her (2006)
- Take This Waltz (2011)
- Stories We Tell (2012)
- Alias Grace (6 episodes, 2017 – writer only)
- Hey Lady! (8 episodes, 2020 – director only)
- Women Talking (2022)
