Early life

Sara Paxton, an only child, was born on April 25, 1988 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, to what she has described as "a very mixed family". Her father, Steve, is of English, Irish, and Scottish descent, and is distantly related to actor Bill Paxton. Her mother, Lucia, was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and raised in Ciudad Acuña. Sara's mother was born Jewish and Sara's father converted to Judaism upon marrying her mother. Both her parents are dentists.

During her childhood, Paxton put on shows and wanted to perform, sometimes dressing up in costume and coming to school as a particular character. She grew up in the San Fernando Valley, choosing to attend a public high school instead of accepting home-schooling. Paxton graduated from El Camino Real High School in June 2006.

Paxton has said that attending college was "very important" to her because "it is important to expand your mind." In 2006, Paxton applied to the University of Southern California's film studies program. She has noted that she would like to major in business administration with a minor in history (as she is a "history fanatic") and to start a production company. Paxton delayed plans to attend college, because every time she lined up a class schedule she was offered another movie. In a 2009 interview with TeenHollywood, Paxton indicated that she had been accepted to several schools and almost attended New York University, but she made the decision not to go and had no immediate plans of attending college.

Career

1997-2004: Early roles

Paxton has said that singing and acting "went hand in hand" during her early years, though she initially began working as an actress, appearing in musical theater and later in television commercials at a young age. Her first film role was a small role in the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy, Liar Liar. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, she appeared in a number of television and film roles, including a role on the soap opera Passions, regular roles on the series Greetings from Tucson and Action, and a guest starring role on the Disney Channel show, Lizzie McGuire starring Hilary Duff playing an ex-president of Lizzie's school. In 2003, Paxton starred in R. L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, a short 3-D film attraction that still plays at several theme parks across the United States. She also appeared as Lana on CSI: Miami and as Marnie Piper in Return to Halloweentown.

Paxton's first major role was in the teen film Sleepover, which opened in July 2004 to negative reviews and low box office revenue; during the same summer season, she appeared in several episodes of the series, Summerland, playing Sarah Borden, a mentally troubled teen who experimented with drugs and sex with Jesse McCartney's character. Paxton was subsequently cast in the lead role of the Discovery Kids television series, Darcy's Wild Life, playing Darcy Fields, a girl who works at a rural veterinary; the series was filmed on a farm in Toronto and aired from 2004 to 2006, often featuring Paxton's music track, "Take a Walk". Paxton received an Emmy nomination for the role in 2006.

2005-2012: Mainstream recognition

In 2005, Paxton spent three months working on the Florida-themed Aquamarine, in which she played a mermaid, opposite Emma Roberts and JoJo, whom she befriended while filming. Paxton has said that she felt a sense of "female empowerment" while on set because "almost everyone" on set was female. The film opened on March 3, 2006 and grossed approximately $7.5 million in its opening weekend. Reviewers of the film compared Paxton, whose inspiration is Goldie Hawn, to actress Reese Witherspoon, saying that she has an "infectious, nutty energy." Paxton recorded a song for the film's soundtrack titled "Connected", an English version of the Mexican group RBD's song Tenerte y Quererte from their 2004 album Rebelde.

Paxton hosted The Secret Life of Water, the first episode of the series Planet H2O, which premiered in April 2006 on public television stations. In May of the same year, she made an appearance on the television series Pepper Dennis, playing a teen actress. Paxton, who sees herself as an "evolving actress," then appeared in Return to Halloweentown, replacing Kimberly J. Brown in the fourth installment in Disney Channel's Halloweentown series; she dyed her hair brown for the role. The film aired on October 20, 2006. During the summer and early fall of 2006, Paxton filmed The Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker, a Lifetime Television film, in Vancouver Island. In the film, she plays Jessie, a college student who falls victim to binge drinking. Paxton has described it as "very different" from her previous roles, and has specified that she was looking for a role that would be a "challenge". The film aired in March 2007. Paxton's next film role was in Sydney White, a college-set comedy starring Amanda Bynes and Matt Long; filming began on February 12, 2007 in Orlando, Florida and the movie was released on September 21, 2007. She next starred in Superhero Movie, a parody on superhero films which began filming in September 2007 and was released on March 28, 2008. She provided backing vocals on her co-star Drake Bell's theme song for the movie Superhero! Song.

Paxton starred in the remake of The Last House on the Left, playing the lead female character, Mari. The film opened March 13, 2009. Her next film may be Gravy, a horror-comedy with Jena Malone and Winona Ryder, and she will also guest star on the show Jonas.

2013-present: Television roles and film

Paxton starred in the CW drama series The Beautiful Life alongside Corbin Bleu, Mischa Barton and Elle Macpherson. The show premiered on September 16, 2009, but was cancelled after 2 episodes. It was later aired online on YouTube. Paxton will next co-star with Scott Eastwood in the thriller Enter Nowhere, and will also play one of the lead roles in the Ti West film The Innkeepers. Paxton also recently starred in the 2011 movie Shark Night. She recently acted as Mirabella on the ABC Family movie Lovestruck: The Musical in 2013.

In April 2016, it was announced that Paxton had joined the cast of David Lynch's 2017 Twin Peaks revival.

Music career

Paxton was signed to a record deal with Epic Records during the time she was cast in Aquamarine. Her debut music CD, The Ups and Downs, featuring the titled single "Here We Go Again", is due for release by Epic at some point "in the future"; as of March 2007, Paxton has not completed work on it. She has described the sound as "pop/rock. It is believed Paxton's debut album has been shelved and she has no plans to continue her music career as she has not made any announcement of any plans to further her career in the music industry."

Personal life

Paxton has credited her Jewish religion for feeling "very connected" to her family, who keep her "grounded" and are "always number one" in her life. She did not have a Bat Mitzvah because she was busy filming, though she has said that she "wanted to so bad".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Liar Liar	Child at Party and School
1997	You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Christmas Party	Patty	Video short
1998	Music from Another Room	Young Karen
1998	Soldier	Angie
1998	Tunnel Vision	Shauna	Short film
1999	Durango Kids	Hillary
2001	Ruby Princess Runs Away, TheThe Ruby Princess Runs Away	Princess Sabrina
2003	Haunted Lighthouse	Ashley	Short film
2004	Sleepover	Staci
2006	Aquamarine	Aquamarine	Lead role
2007	Sydney White	Rachel Witchburn
2008	Superhero Movie	Jill Johnson
2009	Last House on the Left, TheThe Last House on the Left	Mari Collingwood
2011	Innkeepers, TheThe Innkeepers	Claire
2011	Shark Night	Sara Palski
2011	Enter Nowhere	Jody
2012	Static	Rachel
2013	Love & Air Sex	Kara
2013	Cheap Thrills	Violet
2013	Liars All	Katie
2014	Boys of Abu Ghraib	Peyton
2014	All Relative	Grace
2015	Happily Ever After	Sarah Ann
2016	Sundown	Lina Hunter

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Small Talk	Panelist #1	Series
1997	NewsRadio	Sara	Episode: "Office Feud"
1999	Working	Amanda Baines	Episode: "The Prodigy"
1999	Passions	Young Sheridan	Series
1999	Action	Georgia Dragon	2 episodes
1999	Koudelka	Charlotte (voice)	Video game
1999-2004	SpongeBob SquarePants	Various (voice)	Nickelodeon series; 12 episodes
2000	Perfect Game	Sydney	Movie
2000	Geppetto	Featured	Movie
2000	Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction	Girl	Episode: "The Wailing"
2001	Hounded	Tracy Richburg	Disney Channel original movie
2001	Lizzie McGuire	Holly	Episode: "Election"
2002	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jody Bradley	Episode: "Burden of Proof"
2002-2003	Greetings from Tucson	Sarah Tobin	5 episodes
2003	CSI: Miami	Lana Walker	Episode: "Death Grip"
2004	Malcolm in the Middle	Angela Pozefsky	Episode: "Malcolm Dates a Family"
2004	Will & Grace	Melanie	Episode: "I Never Cheered for My Father"
2004	Summerland	Sarah Borden	5 episodes
2004	Quintuplets	Chelsea	Episode: "Date Night"
2004-2006	Darcy's Wild Life	Darcy Fields	Lead role (33 episodes)
2006	Pepper Dennis	April May / Chrissy Tyler	Episode: "Celebrity Twin Could Hang: Film at Eleven"
2006	Skater Boys	Kayla Gordon	Episode: "Sundown"
2006	Return to Halloweentown	Marnie Piper	Lead role (replacing Kimberly J. Brown); Disney Channel original movie
2007	Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker, TheThe Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker	Jessie Brenner	Movie
2008	Wizards of Waverly Place	Millie	Episode: "Credit Check"
2009	Jonas	Fiona Skye	Episode: "Frantic Romantic"
2009	Beautiful Life: TBL, TheThe Beautiful Life: TBL	Raina Marrinelli	Main role
2012	Blue Eyed Butcher	Susan Wright	Movie
2013	Lovestruck: The Musical	Mirabella Hutton	Movie
2013	Guys with Kids	Stacee	Episode: "Gary's Idea"
2014	How to Get Away with Murder	Natalia Lewis	Episode: "Let's Get to Scooping"
2014	Mi$Match	Kate	Movie
2015	Stalker	Isabelle/Lizzy	Episode: "Salvation"
2015	Code Black	Sophie	Episode: "You Are the Heart"
2016	Heartbeat	Lou Panttiere	Episode: "The Land of Normal"
2017	Twin Peaks		In post-production

Discography

Singles

Year	Title
2005	"Here We Go Again"
	"Kiss Me Like You Mean It"
	"Temporary"
	"I Miss U"
	"Electrified"
	"What Have You Got To Lose"
	"Love Song"

Soundtrack credits

Year	Song	Soundtrack
2005	"Take a Walk"	Darcy's Wild Life
	"There For You"
	"Don't Wanna Be Alone"	Summerland
2006	"Connected"	Aquamarine
	"Can You Feel The Love Tonight"	Disneymania 4
2008	"I Need a Hero"	Superhero! Movie
	"Superhero! Song (featuring Sara Paxton)
2012	"Shark Bite Rap"	Shark Night 3D
2013	"Me Too (Stripped)"	Lovestruck: The Musical
	"Like a Virgin"
	"How Can I Remember to Forget"
	"Me Too (Main Mix)"
	"Everlasting Love"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
2000	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Young Performer Age Ten or Under	Working	Won
2003		Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Supporting Young Actress	Greetings from Tucson	Nominated
2003		Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Guest Starring Young Actress	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Won
2004		Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actress	CSI: Miami	Nominated
2005		Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress	Darcy's Wild Life	Nominated
2005		Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast	Sleepover	Nominated
2006		Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama)	Darcy's Wild Life	Nominated
2006	Daytime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series		Nominated
2007	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Ensemble Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama)		Nominated
2007		Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress	Aquamarine	Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]