A Canadian child actor who has made a highly impressive transition to young adult roles, Polley doubtless acquired some of her mettle and precocious maturity from her show-business family. Born the youngest of five to actor Michael Polley and actor-casting agent Diane Polley, Sarah was initially discouraged from joining the family profession, but she knew what she wanted by the ripe old age of four. Thus Polley made her screen debut soon thereafter in "One Magic Christmas" (1985).

Polley did more feature work in the low-budget horror misfire "Blue Monkey" and the so-so drama "The Big Town" (both 1987) before achieving her first breakthroughs on both the big and small screens. She did her spirited best in her first leading feature role in Terry Gilliam's lavish and outlandishly enjoyable "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988) as Sally Salt, the girl who helps the Baron save the day. The film's box office was mild, but Polley began more enduring success on TV with the miniseries "Ramona/The Ramona Stories" (PBS, 1988). In the title role, the blonde and fine-boned young actress brought both the required degree of cute mischief that the children's show required, along with a quiet naturalness which gave her role conviction.

"Ramona" set the tone for much of her subsequent work. She won a Canadian Gemini Award for her supporting role as a feisty waif who helps another girl reunite her parents during the Great Depression in "Lantern Hill" (1990). That same season found Polley in her most widely-seen role to date, as Sara Stanley, a young girl who goes to live with relatives after her mother's death and her father's financial ruin and becomes intimately involved with the romances and feuds amid a quaint village's society in "The Road to Avonlea" ("Avonlea" in its US incarnation on The Disney Channel). The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation production, a rustic series that could be termed a variation on "Little House on the Prairie" set in Prince Edward Island circa 1910, enjoyed six years of success as did its youthful co-star who remained with the show until its final seasons, when the actress was moving on to other projects and her character was gradually phased out.

Polley stayed with the series longer than she had intended due to contractual obligations. A restless talent, she wanted new, challenging and more mature roles. Becoming increasing involved in liberal and leftist political campaigns and causes, including the environment and the plight of Canada's homeless, she had also refused to play along with executives both at home and in the USA. Although her talent and fame could have enabled a return to high-profile feature work, Polley preferred to remain in Canada. She moved into her own apartment at age 15, ventured onstage to play Alice in Wonderland, and even set aside acting at times in order to concentrate on political activism. Her return to features was significant, playing a small role as a babysitter in gifted independent filmmaker Atom Egoyan's "Exotica" (1995). She took on a role older than her years in "Joe's So Mean to Josephine" (1997), as a middle-class student who becomes involved with a young thug. Staying with small-scale dramas, Polley played a homeless teen in "The Planet of Junior Brown" (1997), a vamp in another CBC series, "Straight Up" and the sister of the gay protagonist of "The Hanging Garden" (1997).

Most notably, Polley was cast again by Egoyan in his complex, haunting meditation on the precariousness of life, relationships and community, "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997). Polley brought her insightful, hushed intensity to the difficult role of a teen who survives a school bus wreck in which many are killed, and must later deal with the public exposure of her sympathetically portrayed, consensual incestuous affair with her father. Critical raves for both the film and Polley were unanimous; Hollywood fame might not be to Polley's taste, but her work both on and off the screen bodes well for a provocative future.

from movies.yahoo.com

  Cock & Bull (2006) (pre-production)

"Slings and Arrows" (2003) TV Series .... Sophie (2006)
Beowulf & Grendel (2005) .... Selma
3 Needles (2005) .... Donna Cherry
Vida secreta de las palabras, La (2005) .... Hanna
Don't Come Knocking (2005) .... Sky
Siblings (2004) .... Tabby
Sugar (2004/I) .... Pregnant Girl
Dawn of the Dead (2004) .... Ana
Luck (2003) .... Margaret
Dermott's Quest (2003) .... Gwen
My Life Without Me (2003) .... Ann
... aka Ma vie sans moi (Canada: French title)
... aka Mi vida sin mí (Spain)
The Event (2003) .... Dana
The I Inside (2003) .... Clair
No Such Thing (2001) .... Beatrice
The Claim (2000) .... Hope Burn
... aka Maître de Kingdom Come, Le (Canada: French title)
... aka Rédemption (France)
The Law of Enclosures (2000) .... Beatrice
Love Come Down (2000) .... Sister Sarah
... aka Cris du coeur (Canada: French title)
The Weight of Water (2000) .... Maren Hontvedt
... aka Poids de l'eau, Le (Canada: French title) (France)
This Might Be Good (2000)

The Life Before This (1999) .... Connie
Go (1999) .... Ronna Martin
eXistenZ (1999) .... Merle
... aka eXistenZ (France)
Guinevere (1999) .... Harper Sloane
Last Night (1998/I) .... Jennifer 'Jenny' Wheeler
... aka Minuit (Canada: French title)
White Lies (1998/I) (TV) .... Catherine Chapman
Jerry and Tom (1998) .... Deb
The Planet of Junior Brown (1997) .... Butter
... aka Junior's Groove (USA: video title)
The Hanging Garden (1997) .... Teen Rosemary
... aka Jardin suspendu, Le (Canada: French title)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997) .... Nicole
... aka De beaux lendemains (Canada: French title)
Children First! (1996)
Joe's So Mean to Josephine (1996) .... Josephine
"Straight Up" (1996) TV Series .... Lily
Exotica (1994) .... Tracey Brown
Take Another Look (1994) (TV) .... Amy
Johann's Gift to Christmas (1991) (TV) .... Angel
Lantern Hill (1990) (TV) .... Jody Turner
... aka Jane de Lantern Hill (Canada: French title)
... aka Jane of Lantern Hill

Babar: The Movie (1989) (voice) .... Young Celeste
... aka Triomphe de Babar, Le (France)
"Road to Avonlea" (1989) TV Series .... Sara Stanley
... aka Avonlea
... aka Tales from Avonlea (USA: video title)
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) .... Sally Salt
... aka Abenteuer des Baron von Münchhausen, Die (West Germany)
"Ramona" (1988) TV Series .... Ramona Quimby
... aka Ramona Q
Blue Monkey (1987) .... Ellen
... aka Green Monkey
... aka Insect (USA: video title)
... aka Invasion of the Bodysuckers (UK: video title)
The Big Town (1987) .... Christy Donaldson
Hands of a Stranger (1987) (TV)
Prettykill (1987) .... Karla
... aka Tomorrow's a Killer (USA)
Heaven on Earth (1987) (TV)
Confidential (1986)
One Magic Christmas (1985) .... Molly Monaghan
... aka Disney's One Magic Christmas (UK: video box title)
... aka Un drôle de Noël (Canada: French title)