Sara Paxton

Sara Paxton is an American actress and singer born on April 25, 1988, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She began her career at a young age, appearing in musical theater, television commercials, and minor roles before achieving wider recognition in early October 2002. Paxton is well known for her roles in television series such as Greetings from Tucson, Darcy's Wild Life, and Summerland, as well as feature films including Aquamarine, Return to Halloweentown, Sydney White, Superhero Movie, The Last House on the Left, The Innkeepers, and The Front Runner.

Paxton was raised in the San Fernando Valley as the only child of dentists Lucia Menchaca and Steve Paxton. Her mother is Mexican of Spanish and Jewish descent, while her father is of English and Scottish descent and converted to Judaism upon marrying her mother. Due to her filming schedule, Paxton did not have a bat mitzvah. She graduated from El Camino Real High School in June 2006. Although she was accepted to several colleges, she chose not to attend in order to pursue her acting career.

Paxton's early performance career began with musical theater and television commercials. Her initial film role came in 1997 with a small appearance in the comedy film Liar Liar. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, she built her resume with television roles, including voice work across 15 episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants, appearances on the soap opera Passions, regular roles on Action and Greetings from Tucson, and guest spots on Lizzie McGuire and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In 2003, Paxton starred in R. L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, a short 3D theme park attraction film, and guest-starred on CSI: Miami. Her first major film role was in the 2004 teen comedy Sleepover, followed by a recurring appearance in the drama series Summerland. Between 2004 and 2006, Paxton portrayed the titular lead character Darcy Fields in the Discovery Kids television series Darcy's Wild Life, earning an Emmy Award nomination for her performance in 2006.

Paxton achieved mainstream recognition after starring as a mermaid in the film Aquamarine, released in 2006. She recorded the song "Connected" for the film's soundtrack and signed a deal with Epic Records. That same year, she hosted an episode of the public television series Planet H2O, starred in the Disney Channel original movie Return to Halloweentown, and filmed the Lifetime Television drama The Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker. She followed these projects with roles in the comedies Sydney White in 2007 and Superhero Movie in 2008, as well as the 2009 horror film remake The Last House on the Left.

Over the following decade, Paxton continued to work across television and film. She appeared in the television series The Beautiful Life, the thriller Enter Nowhere, and the horror film The Innkeepers. Her subsequent work included starring roles in Shark Night and Lovestruck: The Musical, an appearance in David Lynch's 2017 revival of Twin Peaks, and a co-starring role as Donna Rice in the 2018 biographical film The Front Runner.

In later years, Paxton appeared as Amber Dooley in the NBC series Good Girls from 2018 to 2019, had a supporting role in the 2022 film Blonde, provided voice roles in the film Barbarian, and made a cameo appearance in the film Weapons. In her personal life, she met Zach Cregger in Austin, Texas, in 2013, and the couple married in October 2019.