Sara Paxton

Early life

Paxton was born on April 25, 1988, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She is the only child of Lucia ( Menchaca) and Steve Paxton, both of whom are dentists. Her mother, Lucia, was born to a Jewish family in Monterrey, Mexico and grew up in the city of Ciudad Acuña. Paxton's father is of English and Scottish descent, and he converted to Judaism upon marrying her mother. Paxton did not have a bat mitzvah because of her filming schedule.

She was raised in the San Fernando Valley, and graduated from El Camino Real High School in June 2006. In a 2009 interview with Teen Hollywood, Paxton disclosed that she had been accepted to several colleges, but decided not to attend any schools in favor of pursuing her acting career.

Career

1997–2004: Early roles

Paxton has said that singing and acting performances "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 comedy film Liar Liar. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, she appeared in a number of television and film roles, including voice roles in 15 episodes of 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 Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire playing Holly, an ex-president of Lizzie's school. In 2002. she starred as a child abuse victim on Body of Proof, a season two episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

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. In the same year, she appeared as Lana Walker on the CSI: Miami season two episode "Death Grip." 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 Summerland, playing Sarah Borden, a mentally troubled teen who experimented with drugs and sex with Jesse McCartney's character.

Paxton was the 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. It often featured Paxton's song, "Take a Walk." She 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 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 had not completed work on it, and it was presumably shelved.

Paxton hosted "The Secret Life of Water," the first episode of the series Planet H2O, which premiered in April 2006 on public television stations. The following month, shortly after turning 18, she made an appearance on the television series Pepper Dennis, playing a teen actress. Paxton 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, on Vancouver Island. In the film, she plays Jessie, a college student who falls victim to binge drinking. Paxton 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 film was released on September 21. 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 canceled after just two episodes. It aired later online on YouTube. Paxton next co-starred with Scott Eastwood in the thriller Enter Nowhere; she also played one of the lead roles in the Ti West film The Innkeepers.

She starred in the 2011 film 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.

Paxton had a supporting role in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde (2022), based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates. The film is a fictionalized portrayal of the life and career of actress Marilyn Monroe.

Paxton had a small supporting role which she referred to as a "sneaky cameo" in Zach Cregger's Weapons (2025), having also voiced roles in Cregger's previous film Barbarian (2022).

Personal life

In 2013, Paxton met Zach Cregger in Austin, Texas; they married in October 2019.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video game

Discography

Soundtrack appearances

Source:

Single Appearances

Source:

Awards and nominations

References

References

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2. (April 25, 2021). "Today in History". [[Associated Press]].
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4. (March 17, 2006). "All is going swimmingly for Aquamarine star Paxton". [[Kalamazoo Gazette]].
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6. Sparktech Software LLC. (February 1, 2012). "'The Innkeepers' Star Sara Paxton: I Would Love To Play Carrie — Inside Movies Since 1920". Boxofficemagazine.com.
7. Break.com. "Sara Paxton from 'The Last House on the Left'". Break Media.
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11. Jones, Jen. (March–April 2007). "Sara Paxton". Jewish Family & Life.
12. (June 16, 2006). "Sara Paxton loved wearing the fins in Aquamarine". Scripps Howard News Service.
13. Reid, Michael D.. (September 8, 2006). "Sara Paxton brings the party". Times Colonist.
14. Audrey Fine. (September 5, 2007). "Sara Paxton Party Never Stops". Seventeen.
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16. (2004). "Sleepover". Rotten Tomatoes.
17. (2004). "Sleepover". The Numbers.
18. (2006). "Aquamarine". The Numbers.
19. Steinberg, Lisa. (2007). "Sara Paxton Life of the Party". Starry Constellation Magazine.
20. (September 25, 2006). "Sara Paxton set to "Party" on at Lifetime". Reuters.
21. (January 3, 2006). "Amanda Bynes Set to Star in the New Comedy 'Sydney White' for Morgan Creek Productions". Morgan Creek Productions.
22. (September 20, 2007). "Dimension Films scares up 'Superhero'". Los Angeles Times.
23. Kit, Borys. (April 5, 2010). "Jack Heller to direct 'Enter Nowhere' film". MoviesOnline.
24. Miska, Brad. (April 27, 2010). "Sara Paxton Becomes the Final 'Innkeeper'". Bloody Disgusting.
25. "'Lovestruck: The Musical': Sara Paxton Previews ABC Family Movie". The Hollywood Reporter.
26. Murthi, Vikrim. (April 25, 2016). "'Twin Peaks' Full Cast Revealed: Amanda Seyfriend, Michael Cera & Over 200 More Join David Lynch Show". Indiewire.
27. White, Matt. (November 6, 2018). "Sara Paxton on "Compassionate" Portrayal of Donna Rice in 'The Front Runner'". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
28. DiLillo, John. (June 16, 2022). "Everything You Need to Know About 'Blonde'". [[Netflix]].
29. Yang, Katrina. (December 7, 2024). "Barbarian Actor Confirms "Sneaky Cameo" In Director's Next Horror Movie: "I Have Seen It & It's Really, Really Good"".
30. (August 20, 2019). "Sara Paxton From 'Aquamarine' Is Now Starring in Horror Films and Has a Celebrity Fiancé".
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33. "Here We Go Again by Sara Paxton on Apple Music".