Sara Paxton

**Sara Paxton** (born April 25, 1988) is an American actress and singer.

In regards to Disney, she is best known for playing Marnie Piper in the Halloweentown Franchise.

## Early Life

Paxton was born in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, as the only child of Lucia (née Menchaca Zuckerman) and Steve Paxton. Her mother was born to a Jewish family in Monterrey, Mexico, and raised in the city of Ciudad Acuña. Paxton's father is of English, Irish, and Scottish descent, and he 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 theatre and later in television commercials at a young age. Her first film role was a small role in the 1997 comedy film Liar Liar star Jim Carrey and late star Jason Bernard. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, she appeared in a number of television and film roles, including voice roles from the Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, 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 3D film attraction that still plays at several theme parks across the United States. She also appeared as Lana on CSI: Miami.

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 the title character as 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 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", was 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."

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 instalment 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 was released on March 13, 2009.

### **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 next co-starred with Scott Eastwood in the thriller Enter Nowhere, and also played one of the lead roles in the Ti West film The Innkeepers. Paxton also starred in the 2011 movie Shark Night. She then played 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. In 2018, she co-starred as Donna Rice opposite Hugh Jackman in Jason Reitman's The Front Runner, a biographical film about politician Gary Hart. In 2018-2019, she played Amber Dooley in the NBC series Good Girls.

## Personal Life

Paxton has credited her Jewish religion for the continued close relationship with her family. She did not have a Bat Mitzvah because of her filming schedule, but she has stated that she hoped to be able to participate when she was a teenager.

Paxton married her long-time partner Zach Cregger, on October 27, 2019, in Austin, Texas at The Addison Grove. Paxton and Cregger met in Austin in 2013.