Sarah Polly is a Canadian actress, director, producer and screenwriter. She became famous in childhood thanks to the projects of the Disney studio, and as an adult she appeared in the films Bright Future, Ecstasy, Chimera and Mr. Nobody. In recent years, has been working as a director and producer. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Childhood and career start
Sarah Polly was born on January 8, 1979 in Toronto, Ontario. Mother is an actress and casting director. Father is a former actor who has become an insurance agent.
For the first time, Sarah appeared on the screen at the age of four in the Disney movie Magic Christmas. The first main role for the aspiring actress Sarah Polly was the picture of the cult director Terry Gillam "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."
Breakthrough work for the young actress was the Canadian series "Road to Avonley." The project became popular far beyond the borders of Polly's homeland due to the fact that Disney Studios was engaged in its distribution. In 1991, there was a conflict between the corporation and the female lead. A photo of Sarah Polly, who at that time was only twelve years old, appeared in the press at one of the award ceremonies. She wore a sign all evening calling for an end to the Gulf military conflict. According to rumors, the leaders of Disney asked the actress to abandon this action, but she did not compromise.
Sarah left the series in 1994 and appeared in several episodes after that, including the final episode of the project.
The heyday of an acting career
A breakthrough role in the creative biography of Sarah Polly, which allowed the public to see her in a new light, was Atom Egoyan's drama "Bright Future". The film received several Academy Award nominations and won several other prestigious awards. A year later, Polly appeared in the black comedy Last Night, which received excellent reviews from critics.
In 1999, Sarah Polly played a small role in David Cronenberg's film Existence and Dag Lyman's crime comedy Ecstasy. In subsequent years, she worked mainly in independent films. In 2004, she starred in the horror film Dawn of the Dead.
In 2009, the actress starred in the horror "Chimera" and the fantastic drama "Mr. Nobody." After that, she did not appear on the screen, concentrating on the career of the director and screenwriter.
Director and producer
Sarah Polly made several short films in the late nineties - early two thousandths. In 2006, she wrote the screenplay for the film “Away from Her,” based on the story of Alice Munro, and Polly also acted as director. The drama received excellent reviews from critics and several prestigious awards. Polly herself was nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
The second directorial project of Sarah was the romantic drama "Loves / Dislikes". The picture was released in 2011 and received generally positive reviews from critics.
The third project of Sarah Polly was the documentary "Stories We Tell." The picture tells about the life of Sarah herself and consists of a series of interviews with friends of her parents. From childhood, the girl suspected that she was not the biological daughter of her father. The mother of the actress died of cancer when Polly was only eleven years old. In adulthood, she decided to get to the bottom of the truth and found out that her biological father is Canadian producer Harry Gulkin, who had an affair with the actress's mother while working together in the theater. His paternity later confirmed a DNA test. The picture was recognized as the best Canadian film of the year.
Views and beliefs
Since youth, Sarah Polly has been actively involved in the political life of Canada, supporting the Democratic Party. She is also involved in charity work and collaborates with anti-poverty organizations. For her contribution to the culture and social life of the country, the actress was awarded the Order of Canada.
In 2017, she wrote an article in which she spoke about the unpleasant experience of communicating with Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men of Hollywood, who, according to Polly herself, prevented her acting career from developing.
Sarah adheres to atheistic views.
Personal life
In 2003, Sarah Polly married editor David Warnsby, whom she had met seven years before the wedding. The couple divorced in 2008.
In 2011, Polly married a lawyer, David Sandomersky. The couple has two children.