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Sara Paxton is Living the Beautiful Life
By Amanda (Age 22, USA)
Sara Paxton |
Sara Paxton is a self professed dork and a shy girl. She tries her best to stay out of the way of the paparazzi, keeping her head down and doing her job. What could possibly get the shy blonde with the good girl image into the glitz and glamour of Hollywood? Jealousy. As Sara told Portrait in her 2007 interview, her mother originally did not want her daughter to be an actress, but when Sara saw a relative on the cover of a local newspaper, she managed to convince her family to let her give it a try. And she’s been working ever since.
Sara in Sleepover |
Although Paxton booked lots of commercials and smaller roles from the age of 6 onward, it was her five episode stint on the WB’s “Summerland” that garnered her a lot of attention and a small tween following. From her turn as Jesse MacCartney’s character’s girlfriend, she moved right on to the movie “Sleepover” (in which she played the mean girl) and her very own television series “Darcy’s Wild Life,” establishing a niche in teen media.
With the cast of 'Darcy's Wildlife' |
“Darcy’s Wild Life” was meant to be a children’s program, and it followed the fish out of water story of a California girl moving to live with her family in an African animal preserve. It ran from 2004 to 2006 as part of a Saturday morning kids lineup in the United States. The show told a tale of the adjustments the character would have to make and the importance of wild life conservation. It was probably an easy pick of a role for Sara, who is a big animal lover.
Sara with her Aquamarine costars Emma Roberts and Jojo |
Her next big project was 2006’s “Aquamarine,” another fish out of water tale, though this time, almost literally. Sara was given the title role of a mermaid who was looking for true love. The movie served to bring mermaids back into the spotlight for little girls for the first time since Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” in the 1980s. It also gave Sara an introduction to Emma Roberts, one of her costars in the film, who would become one of her close friends. The two actually lived very close to one another, and Sara even got a mention in the thank yous in Emma’s soundtrack for her television series “Unfabulous.”
Sara at the Aquamarine premier. |
When her run on “Darcy’s Wild Life” came to an end, the same year “Aquamarine” was released, Sara kept right on working. Her next projects involved a few guest roles on television shows and a couple of made for TV movies. One of those movies was “Return to Halloweentown” in which she replaced actress Kimberly J. Brown in the lead role when a scheduling conflict prevented the other actress from taking part. She followed the Disney movie with a very different one, a Lifetime original movie about the dangers of alcohol in college, “The Party Never Stops: Diary of a Binge Drinker.” The turn from family friendly fare to the hard hitting drama showed that she did have the acting chops for meatier roles.
A promo from Sydney White. |
Rather than continue the more dramatic route, Sara took on another comedy, “Sydney White,” a modern retelling of the “Snow White” fairy tale. Amanda Bynes played the title role, while Sara again channeled her inner mean girl to play Rachel Witchburn, the evil queen of the sorority girls. When asked about how much of a stretch playing someone as mean as Rachel was, Paxton responded by saying, “I think everyone has had that experience with the mean girls,” and that it was easy for people to draw from their own experiences, even if they were nothing like their characters. After the film was released, some of the younger fans of the film were even too afraid to come up to Sara to ask for an autograph, identifying her as her character. The bubbly blond just shruged off the fear saying, “I guess that means I did a good job.”
A photo shoot for Damsel Magazine from 2008. |
As for music, it does not seem like Sara is going to be going down that route any time soon. She grew up doing musical theater, so Sara said that for her, music and acting went hand in hand for a long time. This is evident in her recording tracks for “Darcy’s Wild Life,” “Aquamarine,” and “Superhero Movie.” She also got to show off her vocal skills during her time on “Summerland” and even released a few singles over the years. In 2007, there was talk of her putting out a solo album, but two years later, nothing of that album has materialized. When asked about what she likes better, Sara has admitted to enjoying acting more, and that she considers herself an actress first. So, at least for now, don’t expect a CD.
With Riki Lindhome at the Last House on the Left Premier |
Despite her most recent television appearances being on the Disney shows “Wizards of Waverly Place” and “JONAS,” Paxton is making more of an effort to break away from the kinds of roles that have given her a fan base. One of her most recent cinematic efforts was in the remake of the thriller “The Last House on the Left” which sees her as a kidnapping victim left for dead. The movie is much darker than anything she has ever done before. (Warning to all of you Sara fans who want to go out and watch it: it is not for the squeamish.) Sara went out for the role because the script floated her way during a time when she was interested in trying her hand at a more dramatic role. She said she was completely shocked to even be considered for the role, since her background was almost completely comedy. On actually going out to film the scenes, Sara also said that she was incredibly nervous and anxious about the part because she was unsure as to how people would react to it, but so far, reviews of her performance have been positive.
At the CW Upfronts |
With all of the work Sara has done over the last decade, something she has learned about acting is that location shooting really helps her to stay in character. There is a big difference from being in a studio filming on a set and being out in the real world. She believes that filming on a sound stage or a set can take you out of the necessary head space when there are breaks in between shooting. Lucky for her then that her new series, “The Beautiful Life” is filmed on location in New York. Paxton even made the move from the west coast to the east this summer. It’s a big commitment for the California girl, but she’s said “I can’t wait to be a real New Yorker!”
The cast of 'The Beautiful Life' |
“The Beautiful Life” is the brain child of Ashton Kutcher. You might know him as Kelso in “That 70s Show” or as Demi Moore’s husband. Before he was an actor though, he was a model, and some of the ideas used for the series are based on his own experiences when he lived in New York. The drama airs on CW starting this month, and it will give a peek into the darker side of modeling, going behind the glamour to show the cattiness and the competition to make it down a runway. Sara will be playing Raina, a girl who ran away from home, and as Sara says, “fell into modeling” as a way to survive in New York. Raina has a bit of a rivalry with Mischa Barton’s character who is the reigning queen of the catwalk. The best part for Sara? She didn’t even have to audition for the role. She was just asked if she wanted it, and she found the script so interesting that she jumped at the chance to do a new series.
A Photo Shoot for WWD |
Sara Paxton has television, movies, comedy, and drama all under her belt, and she’s just twenty-one years old. She’s played the girl next door, the popular mean girl, a mermaid, and now a model. So, what’s next? According to Sara herself, “whatever doesn’t put me in a box.” She’s up for any challenge that comes her way, any role that allows her to prove that she’s a real actress, and I’m sure we’ll all be waiting to see where she takes us next.
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