Sarah Polley OC | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Polley at the2009 Venice International Film Festival | |
| Born | Sarah Ellen Polley (1979-01-08)January 8, 1979 (age 46) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1985–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent | Harry Gulkin (biological father) |
Sarah Ellen PolleyOC (born January 8, 1979) is a Canadian filmmaker, writer, political activist and actress.[1] She first garnered attention as a child actress for her role asRamona Quimby in the television seriesRamona, based onBeverly Cleary's books. This subsequently led to her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television seriesRoad to Avonlea (1990–1996). She has starred in many feature films, includingThe 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), andMr. Nobody (2009).
Polley made her feature film directorial debut withAway from Her (2006), for which she won theCanadian Screen Award for Best Director and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[2] Her second film,Take This Waltz (2011), premiered at the2011 Toronto International Film Festival,[3] followed by her first documentary film,Stories We Tell (2012). She also wrote the miniseriesAlias Grace,[4] based on the 1996novel of the same name byMargaret Atwood.[5] In 2022, she wrote and directed the filmWomen Talking, based on the2018 novel of the same name byMiriam Toews, for which she won theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.[6]
Sarah Ellen Polley was born on January 8, 1979 inToronto,Ontario, Canada,[7][8] the youngest of five children born to Diane Elizabeth Polley (née MacMillan). Her siblings are Susy and John Buchan from Diane's first marriage to George Deans-Buchan, and Mark and Joanna Polley from her second marriage to Michael Polley (1933–2018), a British-born actor who became an insurance agent after starting a family with Diane.[9][10]
Her mother was an actress (best known for playing Gloria Beechham in 44 episodes of the Canadian TV seriesStreet Legal) and a casting director. She died of cancer the week of Polley's 11th birthday in 1990.[11]
Polley suffered from severescoliosis as a child and underwent a spinal operation at 15 that required her to spend the next year in bed recovering.[12]
Polley was raised by Diane and Michael.[13] During her childhood, Polley's siblings teased her because she bore no physical resemblance to Michael. Polley discovered as an adult that herbiological father was actuallyHarry Gulkin, with whom her mother had an affair (as chronicled in Polley's filmStories We Tell).[14][15] Gulkin, the son ofRussian Jewish immigrants, was aQuebec-born film producer who produced the 1975 Canadian filmLies My Father Told Me, and had met Diane after attending a play in which she acted in Montreal in 1978.[15][16][17][18] When Polley turned 18, she decided to follow up on suggestions from her mother's friends that her biological father might be Geoff Bowes—one of three castmates from her mother's play in Montreal.[14] Meeting with Gulkin as just someone who could provide information about Diane in Montreal, he informed Polley of his affair with Diane.[14] Gulkin's paternity was later confirmed by a DNA test.[19][20]
Polley attendedSubway Academy II, thenEarl Haig Secondary School, but dropped out at age 15.[14] By the age of 15 she was living on her own and credits theOntario Coalition Against Poverty for housing her and developing her work with activism.[21]
In November 2024, Polley received a honoraryDoctors of Letters degree from theUniversity of British Columbia Vancouver campus.[22]
Her first appearance on screen was at the age of four,[23] as Molly in the filmOne Magic Christmas. She was in the pilot episode forFriday the 13th – The Series and appeared in a small role in William Fruet's sci-fi horror filmBlue Monkey, both in 1987. At age of eight, she was cast asRamona Quimby in the television seriesRamona, based onBeverly Cleary's books.
That same year, she played one of the lead characters inTerry Gilliam'sThe Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Polley burst into the public eye in 1990 as Sara Stanley on the popular CBC television seriesRoad to Avonlea. The series made her famous and financially independent, and she was hailed as "Canada's Sweetheart" by the popular press.[24] The show was picked up by the Disney Channel for distribution in the United States. At the age of 12 (around 1991), Polley attended an awards ceremony while wearing a peace sign to protest thefirst Gulf War. Disney executives asked her to remove it, and she refused. This soured her relationship with Disney, but she continued onRoad to Avonlea until 1994.[25] The show ran until 1996; Polley did return as Sara Stanley for an episode in 1995 and for the series finale.
In 1994 Polley made her theatre debut at theStratford Festival playing Alice inAlice Through the Looking Glass, an adaptation ofLewis Carroll's book of the same name.[26] Polley ended her run early, claiming complications from scoliosis. In 2022 she revealed she had in fact been suffering from intense stage fright, something that continued to plague her into adulthood.[27]
Polley appeared as Lily on the CBC television seriesStraight Up, which ran from 1996 to 1998, winning theGemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series for her role. By age thirteen, however, Polley was dissatisfied with her juvenile acting career. Her experience with director Atom Egoyan in a small but critical role in his sophisticated adult dramaExotica turned things around, as she revealed in a 2022 conversation with the director, filmed for Criterion'sExotica BluRay. Polley's subsequent role as Nicole Burnell in Egoyan's 1997 filmThe Sweet Hereafter brought her considerable attention in the United States; she was a favourite at theSundance Film Festival. Her character in the film was an aspiring singer, and onthe film's soundtrack, she performed covers ofThe Tragically Hip's "Courage" andJane Siberry's "One More Colour" and sang the film's title track, which she co-wrote withMychael Danna.[28]
In 1998, Polley appeared in the critically acclaimed filmLast Night. The following year, she starred as part of the ensemble cast in the filmGo. She was cast in the role of Penny Lane in the big-budget 2000 filmAlmost Famous, but dropped out of the project to return to Canada for the low-budgetThe Law of Enclosures. Her role in the 2003 filmMy Life Without Me garnered theGenie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 2004. In the same year, she starred in a lead role in theremake ofDawn of the Dead, which was a departure from her other indie roles.
In 2005, she starred inThe Secret Life of Words, oppositeTim Robbins andJulie Christie. She was nominated for theEuropean Film Award for Best Actress by theEuropean Film Academy for her role as Hanna.[29]
In 2006, Polley took a role on the acclaimed seriesSlings and Arrows during its third and final season. Polley's father, Michael Polley, was a regular on the show during its entire three-season run. She served as a member of the 2007Cannes Film Festival jury.[30]
In 2008, Polley appeared asNabby Adams in theHBO miniseries based on the life ofJohn Adams. Polley played Elise inJaco Van Dormael'sMr. Nobody, which was released in 2010. Critical response has praised the film's artistry and Polley's acting.[31] Later that year, she also appeared in a cameo role inBruce MacDonald's filmTrigger.
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While Polley did not officially retire from acting, after 2010 it would be fifteen years before she appeared onscreen again, with her focus transitioning into a writing and directing career. In 2025 she played a guest role as herself in an episode of the television seriesThe Studio, having been recruited by series creatorSeth Rogen, a friend and prior collaborator. Polley described the role as an "opportunity to let out a lot of the frustrations I’ve ever had as a director—to finally let them out onscreen," adding that she appreciated the chance to act in a comedy.[32]
In 1999, Polley made her first short film,The Best Day of My Life,[23] for the On the Fly 4 Film Festival. She also made a second short film that year,Don't Think Twice. Polley attended theCanadian Film Centre's directing program in 2001, and won theGenie Award forBest Live Action Short Drama in 2003 for her short filmI Shout Love. She made her feature-length film directing debut withAway from Her, which Polley adapted from theAlice Munro short storyThe Bear Came Over the Mountain. The movie, starring Julie Christie (with whom she had played inNo Such Thing, 2001, andThe Secret Life of Words, 2005), debuted at theToronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2006, as part of the TIFF's Gala showcase.
Away from Her was acquired byLionsgate for release in the US for the sum of $750,000. It drew rave reviews fromVariety,The Hollywood Reporter, and the three Toronto dailies, both for the performances of Christie and her co-star, Canadian actorGordon Pinsent, and for Polley's direction. It also earned Polley a 2007Academy Award nomination forBest Adapted Screenplay,[2] and won theGenie Award for Best Achievement in Direction. At the 2008 Genies, she was also awarded theClaude Jutra Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by a first-time feature film director.[33]
Polley wrote and directed her second feature,Take This Waltz starringMichelle Williams,Luke Kirby,Seth Rogen, andSarah Silverman, which premiered at theToronto International Film Festival in 2011.
Her documentary filmStories We Tell premiered at the69th Venice International Film Festival in competition in the Venice Days category, and its North American premiere followed at the2012 Toronto International Film Festival.[34] The critically acclaimed documentary examined family secrets in Polley's own childhood.[19] She was awarded theCAN$100,000 prize for best Canadian film of the year by theToronto Film Critics Association.[19] In 2017, Polley executive produced the filmA Better Man (2017),[35]
In late 2012, Polley announced that she would be adaptingMargaret Atwood's novelAlias Grace.[5] Polley first wrote to Atwood asking to adapt the novel when she was 17. They held off for 20 years until she was ready to make the show.[36] In August 2014, during a profile of her work as a director, Polley announced thatAlias Grace was being adapted into a six-part miniseries.[37] In June 2016, theseries was confirmed with Polley writing and producing. The series premiered in 2017 onCBC Television in Canada; it streams onNetflix globally, outside of Canada.[38] It received positive reviews from critics.[4]
In June 2014, it was announced that Polley would write and direct an adaptation ofJohn Green'sLooking for Alaska.[39] In March 2015, she was hired to potentially write and direct a new adaptation ofLittle Women.[40] Her involvement in the project ultimately never went beyond initial discussion.[41] In her 2022 essay collectionRun Towards the Danger, Polley revealed she had been working on a second draft of theLittle Women screenplay when she had a traumatic head injury resulting inpost-concussion syndrome that left her with symptoms for four years so she was temporarily unable to work until she found effective treatment throughUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center's concussion program. It was subsequently announced in June that, due to scheduling conflicts, Polley would no longer be directingLooking for Alaska.[42][43]
In an interview, Polley stated that she takes pride in her work and enjoys both acting and directing, but is not keen on combining the two:
I like the feeling of keeping them separate. I find that really gratifying. I can't imagine combining those. For me, I love the feeling of using different parts of my brain separately.[44]
In a 2015 retrospective of the movieGo, Mike D'Angelo ofThe A.V. Club commented that Polley's decision to go into directing had "deprived the world of many potentially great performances", calling her a "superb actor".[45] In December 2020, it was announced Polley would directWomen Talking based upon thenovel of the same name byMiriam Toews forOrion Pictures.[46] It premiered at the49th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2022, and went into wide release on December 23, 2022.[47][48] It was released to widespread acclaim, with 90% of critics giving it a positive review onRotten Tomatoes.[49] Shirley Li ofThe Atlantic called it "vibrant cinema," while Anna Bogutskaya ofTime Out said that it "imagines female emancipation as an honest, raging, caring experience."[50][51] Polley won theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the95th Academy Awards, and the film was also nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture.
In 2023, Polley was revealed to be in talks to directDisney'slive action adaptation ofBambi, but in March 2024, it never came in fruition due to Polley reportedly no longer being attached as a director.[52][53]
Polley has written numerous essays over the years about her experiences as a child star. In 2022, she released her first book of essays, the autobiographical,Run Towards the Danger which contains six essays that examine aspects of Polley's career on stage, screen, and on film, detailing her roles in aStratford Festival production ofAlice Through the Looking Glass, as well as her breakout roles inThe Adventures of Baron Munchausen and the TV seriesRoad to Avonlea. The book also alleged for the first time that Polley had been a victim ofJian Ghomeshi who she says sexually and physically assaulted her when she was 16 and he was 28.[54]
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Following the row with Disney as a twelve-year-old for wearing a peace sign to protest against the Gulf War, Polley dedicated more of her efforts to politics, becoming a prominent member of theOntario New Democratic Party (ONDP), where Ontario legislatorPeter Kormos was her political mentor. In 1996, she gave a nomination speech for Kormos at the ONDP leadership convention which she later referred to as the "proudest moment in [her] life".[55]
In 1995, she lost two back teeth after being struck by ariot police officer during a protest against the provincialProgressive Conservative government ofMike Harris inQueen's Park.[10][56] She was subsequently involved with theOntario Coalition Against Poverty. She subsequently scaled back her political activism.[56]She was part of a group in 2001 which opposed the proposedFree Trade Area of the Americas. The3rd Summit of the Americas was held inQuebec City in April 2001.[57] In 2003, she was part of former Toronto mayorDavid Miller's transition advisory team.
In 2009, Polley directed a two-minute short film in support of theHeart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. In advance of the film's airing in Canada during the82nd Academy Awards, and following news reports that characterized the film as a marketing exercise for the margarine companyBecel,[58][59][60] Polley withdrew her association with the film. "In December 2009, I made a film to be aired during the Academy Awards that I believed was to promote the Heart and Stroke Foundation. When I agreed to make this film ["The Heart"], I was thrilled, as I was proud to be associated with the work of this incredible organization. However, I have since learned that my film is also being used to promote a product. Regretfully, I am forced to remove my name from the film and disassociate myself from it. I have never actively promoted any corporate brand, and cannot do so now."[61][62][63] In response, Becel said it was a "founding sponsor" of the Heart Truth campaign and had commissioned the film "to put heart health on the radar of Canadian women".[64]
In January 2012, Polley endorsed Toronto MPPeggy Nash in the2012 New Democratic Party leadership race to succeedJack Layton.[65]
On October 15, 2017, Polley wrote an op-ed piece inThe New York Times detailing her experience withHarvey Weinstein and with Hollywood's treatment of women generally, and making a connection between Hollywood's gendered power relations and Polley's not having acted in years.[66]
In 2007, Polley discovered the man who raised her, Michael Polley, was not her biological father. The story of her mother's affair with her biological father, producerHarry Gulkin, was chronicled in her 2012 film,Stories We Tell.[14]
On September 10, 2003, Polley married Canadian film editorDavid Wharnsby, her boyfriend of seven years. They divorced in 2008.[67] On August 23, 2011, she married David Sandomierski. They have three children.[68][69]
In her 2022 autobiographical essay collection,Run Towards the Danger, Polley said she was sexually assaulted byMoxy Früvous singerJian Ghomeshi on a 1995 date, while she was 16 and he was 28. Family and friends dissuaded her from coming forward.[70][71]
Short
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Don't Think Twice | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| The Best Day of My Life | No | |||
| 2001 | I Shout Love | |||
| 2002 | All I Want for Christmas | No | ||
| 2013 | Making a Scene | No | Yes |
Feature
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Away from Her | Yes | Yes | No | Feature directorial debut Nominated -Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| 2011 | Take This Waltz | Yes | |||
| 2012 | Stories We Tell | No | Documentary feature | ||
| 2022 | Women Talking | Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Shields Stories | Yes | Yes | No | Episode: "The Harp" |
| 2017 | Alias Grace | No | Yes | Miniseries | |
| 2020 | Hey Lady! | Yes | No | No | 8 episodes |
Executive producer
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Night Heat | Cindy Keating | Episode: "The Game" |
| 1986 | The Incredible Time Travels of Henry Osgood | ||
| 1987 | Heaven on Earth | Becky Hawthorne | TV film |
| Hands of a Stranger | Suzie Hearn | ||
| Friday the 13th: The Series | Mary | Episode: "The Inheritance" | |
| 1988–1989 | Ramona | Ramona Quimby | Main role |
| 1989 | Lantern Hill | Jody Turner | TV film |
| 1990–1996 | Road to Avonlea | Sara Stanley | Main role (seasons 1–5), guest (seasons 6– & 7) |
| 1991 | Johann's Gift to Christmas | Angel | Short |
| The Hidden Room | Alice | Episode: "Dangerous Dreams" | |
| 1994 | Take Another Look | Amy | TV film |
| 1996 | Straight Up | Lily | |
| 1998 | White Lies | Catherine Chapman | TV film |
| 1999 | Made in Canada | Rhonda | Episode: "It's a Science" |
| 2006 | Slings & Arrows | Sophie | Main role (season 3) |
| 2008 | John Adams | Abigail Adams Smith | Miniseries |
| 2025 | The Studio | Herself | Episode: "The Oner" |
On October 16, 2010, it was announced that Polley would receive a star onCanada's Walk of Fame.[73] In June 2013, she received the National Arts Centre Award recognizing achievement over the past performance year at theGovernor General's Performing Arts Awards, where she was the subject of a short vignette byAnn Marie Fleming entitledStories Sarah Tells.[74] She was appointed an Officer of theOrder of Canada on December 30, 2013.[75]
 |
| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Academy Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Away from Her | Nominated | [76] |
| 2023 | Women Talking | Won | [77] | ||
| 2006 | ACTRA | ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence | [78] | ||
| 2020 | ACTRA Woman of the Year | [79] | |||
| 2007 | Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Director | Away from Her | Nominated | |
| Best Woman Director | Won | ||||
| Best Woman Screenwriter | Nominated | ||||
| Women's Image Award | Herself | Won | |||
| Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in 2007 | Nominated | ||||
| Best Leap from Actress to Director Award | Won | ||||
| 2012 | Best Woman Director | Take This Waltz | Nominated | ||
| Best Woman Screenwriter | |||||
| 2013 | Best Documentary | Stories We Tell | Won | ||
| Best Woman Director | Nominated | ||||
| Best Woman Screenwriter | |||||
| 2023 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Women Talking | Won | [80] |
| 2006 | European Film Awards | European Actress | The Secret Life of Words | Nominated | [81] |
| 1988 | Gemini Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | Ramona | ||
| 1990 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | Road to Avonlea | |||
| 1992 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role | Lantern Hill | Won | ||
| 1993 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | Road to Avonlea | Nominated | ||
| 1994 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role | ||||
| 1998 | Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series | Straight Up | Won | ||
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries | The Planet of Junior Brown | Nominated | |||
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | White Lies | ||||
| 2007 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series | Slings and Arrows | |||
| 1997 | Genie Awards | Best Original Song | The Sweet Hereafter | ||
| Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | |||||
| 2002 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | The Law of Enclosures | |||
| 2003 | Best Live Action Short Drama | I Shout Love | Won | ||
| 2004 | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | My Life Without Me | |||
| 2008 | Claude Jutra Award (Special Prize) | Away from Her | |||
| 2008 | Best Director | ||||
| 2008 | Best Adapted Screenplay | ||||
| 2023 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Screenplay - Motion Picture | Women Talking | Nominated | |
| 2000 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Supporting Female | Go | ||
| 2023 | Robert Altman Award | Women Talking | Won | [82] | |
| 2012 | Toronto Film Critics Association Awards | Rogers Canadian Film Award | Stories We Tell | [19] | |
| Best Documentary Film Award | [19] | ||||
| 2014 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Documentary Screenplay | [83] | ||
| 2023 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Women Talking | [84] |
Media related toSarah Polley at Wikimedia Commons
