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Sarah Ellen Polley [[UsefulNotes/KnightFever OC]] (born January 8, 1979 in Toronto, Ontario) is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Canadian]] actress, director, and screenwriter.

Beginning her career at the age of four with a bit part in ''Film/OneMagicChristmas'', Polley's first starring role was as Literature/RamonaQuimby in the miniseries ''Ramona''. She was also featured in Creator/TerryGilliam's CultClassic film ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'', but first came to national prominence in ''Series/RoadToAvonlea'' as the lead character Sara Stanley. She later became acclaimed for her roles in indie films, winning a Genie Award for ''Film/MyLifeWithoutMe''. Her first mainstream role was as Ana Clark in Creator/ZackSnyder's ''[[Film/DawnOfTheDead2004 Dawn of the Dead]]'', with other notable performances in ''Film/{{Go}}'', ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'', ''Film/{{Splice}}'', and the miniseries ''Series/JohnAdams''.

After directing a few shorts, Polley made her feature directorial debut in 2006 with the drama ''Film/AwayFromHer'', 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 Creator/JulieChristie, 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 [[Creator/NationalFilmBoardOfCanada NFB]] documentary ''Stories We Tell'', and the 2022 drama ''Film/WomenTalking'' (for which she won the 2023 MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAdaptedScreenplay). She also wrote the 2017 drama series ''Series/AliasGrace'', 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 [[UsefulNotes/CanadianPolitics 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 UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, 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 UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s. When she found out that the film had been commissioned by Becel margarine, she had her name removed from the credits. In a [[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/14/opinion/sunday/harvey-weinstein-sarah-polley.html 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.

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!!Selected filmography:
[[folder:Film roles]]
* ''Film/BlueMonkey'' (1987) as Ellen
* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' (1988) as Sally Salt
* ''[[Literature/{{Babar}} Babar: The Movie]]'' (1989) as Young Celeste (voice)
* ''Film/{{Exotica}}'' (1994) as Tracey Brown
* ''Film/TheSweetHereafter'' (1997) as Nicole Burnell
* ''Film/LastNight'' (1998) as Jennifer Wheeler
* ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'' (1999) as Merle
* ''Film/{{Go}}'' (1999) as Ronna Martin
* ''Film/NoSuchThing'' (2001) as Beatrice
* ''Film/MyLifeWithoutMe'' (2003) as Ann
* ''[[Film/DawnOfTheDead2004 Dawn of the Dead]]'' (2004) as Ana Clark
* ''Film/BeowulfAndGrendel'' (2005) as Selma
* ''Film/TheSecretLifeofWords'' (2005) as Hanna
* ''Film/MrNobody'' (2009) as Elise (adult)
* ''Film/{{Splice}}'' (2009) as Elsa Kast
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Television roles]]
* ''Series/ScreenTwo'' (1 episode, 1987) as Becky Hawthorne
* ''Series/FridayThe13thTheSeries'' (1 episode, 1987) as Mary
* ''[[Literature/RamonaQuimby Ramona]]'' (10 episodes, 1988–89) as Ramona
* ''Series/RoadToAvonlea'' (67 episodes, 1990–96) as Sara Stanley
* ''Series/SlingsAndArrows'' (5 episodes, 2006) as Sophie
* ''Series/JohnAdams'' (4 episodes, 2008) as Abigail Adams Smith
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Writer-director]]
* ''Film/AwayFromHer'' (2006)
* ''Take This Waltz'' (2011)
* ''Stories We Tell'' (2012)
* ''Series/AliasGrace'' (6 episodes, 2017 – writer only)
* ''Hey Lady!'' (8 episodes, 2020 – director only)
* ''Film/WomenTalking'' (2022)
[[/folder]]

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