47 Facts About Sarah Polley

Sarah Ellen Polley was born on January 8,1979 and is a Canadian filmmaker, political activist and retired actress.

Sarah Polley first garnered attention as a child actress for her role as Ramona Quimby in the television series Ramona, based on Beverly Cleary's books.

Sarah Polley has starred in many feature films, including The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter, Guinevere, Go, The Weight of Water, No Such Thing, My Life Without Me, Dawn of the Dead, Splice, and Mr Nobody.

Sarah Polley wrote the miniseries Alias Grace, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Margaret Atwood.

In 2022, Sarah 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.

Sarah Polley was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the youngest of five children born to Diane Elizabeth Sarah Polley.

Sarah Polley's 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, a British-born actor who became an insurance agent after starting a family with Diane.

Sarah Polley's uncle was the Buffalo Sabres play by play caller Ted Darling.

Sarah Polley's mother was an actress and a casting director.

Sarah Polley died of cancer the week of Polley's 11th birthday.

Sarah Polley suffered from severe scoliosis as a child and underwent a spinal operation at 15 that required her to spend the next year in bed recovering.

Sarah Polley discovered as an adult that her biological father was actually Harry Gulkin, with whom her mother had an affair.

Sarah Polley attended Subway Academy II, then Earl Haig Secondary School, but dropped out at age 15.

At the age of 12, Sarah Polley attended an awards ceremony while wearing a peace sign to protest the first Gulf War.

In 1994 Sarah Polley made her theatre debut at the Stratford Festival playing Alice in Alice Through the Looking Glass, an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's book of the same name.

Sarah Polley appeared as Lily on the CBC television series Straight Up.

Sarah Polley's subsequent role as Nicole Burnell in the 1997 film The Sweet Hereafter brought her considerable attention in the United States; she was a favourite at the Sundance Film Festival.

Sarah Polley's character in the film was an aspiring singer, and on the film's soundtrack, she performed covers of The Tragically Hip's "Courage" and Jane Siberry's "One More Colour" and sang the film's title track, which she co-wrote with Mychael Danna.

In 1998, Sarah Polley appeared in the critically acclaimed film Last Night.

Sarah Polley was cast in the role of Penny Lane in the big-budget 2000 film Almost Famous, but dropped out of the project to return to Canada for the low-budget The Law of Enclosures.

Sarah Polley was nominated as Best European Actress by the European Film Academy for her role as Hanna.

In 2006, Sarah Polley took a role on the acclaimed series Slings and Arrows during its third and final season.

Sarah Polley's father, Michael Sarah Polley, was a regular on the show during its entire three-season run.

Sarah Polley served as a member of the 2007 Cannes Film Festival jury.

In 2008, Sarah Polley appeared as Nabby Adams in the HBO miniseries based on the life of John Adams.

Sarah Polley played Elise in Jaco Van Dormael's Mr Nobody, which was released in 2010.

In 1999, Sarah Polley made her first short film, The Best Day of My Life, for the On the Fly 4 Film Festival.

Sarah Polley made a second short film that year, Don't Think Twice.

Sarah Polley attended the Canadian Film Centre's directing program in 2001, and won the Genie Award for Best Live Action Short Drama in 2003 for her short film I Shout Love.

Sarah Polley made her feature-length film directing debut with Away from Her, which Polley adapted from the Alice Munro short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain.

Sarah Polley was awarded the CAN$100,000 prize for best Canadian film of the year by the Toronto Film Critics Association.

In 2017, Sarah Polley executive produced the film A Better Man,.

In late 2012, Sarah Polley announced that she would be adapting Margaret Atwood's novel Alias Grace.

Sarah Polley first wrote to Atwood asking to adapt the novel when she was 17.

In June 2016, the series was confirmed with Sarah Polley writing and producing.

In March 2015, Sarah Polley was hired to write the script for a new adaptation of Little Women, as well as potentially direct; however, Sarah Polley's involvement in the project never went beyond initial discussions, despite reports.

Sarah Polley has written numerous essays over the years about her experiences as a child star.

Sarah Polley was involved with the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.

Sarah Polley was part of a group in 2001 which opposed the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.

In 2009, Sarah Polley directed a two-minute short film in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

In January 2012, Sarah Polley endorsed Toronto MP Peggy Nash in the 2012 New Democratic Party leadership race to succeed Jack Layton.

On October 15,2017, Sarah Polley wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times detailing her experience with Harvey Weinstein and with Hollywood's treatment of women generally, and making a connection between Hollywood's gendered power relations and Sarah Polley's not having acted in years.

In 2007, Sarah Polley discovered that her father, Michael Sarah Polley, who had raised her, was not her biological father.

On September 10,2003, Sarah Polley married Canadian film editor David Wharnsby, her boyfriend of seven years.

In 2023, one of Sarah Polley's children, her first-born daughter Eve, pranked her with a letter telling her that she needed to return her Oscar award.

Sarah Polley was dissuaded by family and friends from coming forward with her experiences, but ultimately chose to do so in her autobiographical essay collection Run Towards the Danger.

Sarah Polley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30,2013.