Sara Paxton

thumb|SARA PAXTON AS AN ADULT. Sara PaxtonPaxton's birth certificate lists no middle name, despite the sometime reported middle name of "Emily." See the California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com (born April 25, 1988 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California) is an American actress, model and singer. She grew up in California and began acting at an early age, appearing in many minor roles in both films and television shows, before rising to fame in 2004, after playing the title role in the series Darcy's Wild Life and Sarah Borden in Summerland. Paxton's most notable roles have been in the films Aquamarine (2006), Sydney White (2007), Superhero Movie (2008), The Last House on the Left (2009), The Innkeepers (2011). She has also appeared prominently in television, with a lead role in Darcy's Wild Life (2004–06). In 2016, it was announced that Paxton was cast in David Lynch's 2017 Twin Peaks series.
==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.Damarys, Sara Paxton in 'The Last House on the Left' published by sitv.com date=2009-03-13 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 [have one] 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	 	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	 	Mari Collingwood 	
2011	 	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 	TV movie
2000 	Geppetto 	Featured 	Movie
1999 	Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction	Girl 	Episode: "The Wailing"
2001 	Hounded 	Tracy Richburg 	Disney Channel original movie
2001 	Lizzie McGuire 	Holly(Originally wanted for Lizzie McGuire)	Episode: "Election"
2002 	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jody Bradley(12) 	Episode: "Burden of Proof"
2002–03 	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"
2004–06 	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 	 	Jessie Brenner 	Movie
2008 	Wizards of Waverly Place 	Millie 	Episode: "Credit Check"
2009 	Jonas 	Fiona Skye 	Episode: "Frantic Romantic"
2009 	 	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 	 	
==Discography==
===Singles===
Year	Title
2005	"Here We Go Again"
2005	"Kiss Me Like You Mean It"
2005	"Temporary"
2005	"I Miss U"
2005	"Electrified"
2005	"What Have You Got To Lose"
2005	"Love Song"
===Soundtrack credits===
 Allmusic Accessed 2016-1-28
Year	Song 	Soundtrack
2005	"Take a Walk" 	Darcy's Wild Life
2005	"There For You" 	Darcy's Wild Life
2005	"Don't Wanna Be Alone" (with Jesse McCartney)	Summerland
2006	"Connected" 	Aquamarine
2006	"Can You Feel The Love Tonight" 	Disneymania 4
2008	"I Need a Hero" 	Superhero! Movie
2008	"Superhero! Song (featuring Sara Paxton) 	Superhero! Movie
2012	"Shark Bite Rap" 	Shark Night 3D
2013	"Me Too (Stripped)" 	Lovestruck: The Musical
2013	"Like a Virgin" 	Lovestruck: The Musical
2013	"How Can I Remember to Forget" 	Lovestruck: The Musical
2013	"Me Too (Main Mix)" 	Lovestruck: The Musical
2013	"Everlasting Love" 	Lovestruck: The Musical
==References==
==External links==
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