Sarah Polley, socialist

Sarah Polley's politics and activism are common knowledge here, but in the event they're not as well-known in the States, here are some relevant press clippings regarding the star of Dawn of the Dead, Go, and The Sweet Hereafter:


Actor Sarah Polley, who starred in CBC-TV's Road To Avonlea, has taken up a new acting career -- with the Ontario NDP.

After speaking at a few Queen's Park demonstrations, she played a major role at the NDP leadership convention in June, where she seconded the nomination of Peter Kormos. Now she has turned her talents to shrieking at people who attend speeches by Premier Mike Harris.

A few weeks ago Polley was spotted screaming "ASSHOLE!" and "SCUM!" in the faces of people who attended a Harris speech at Varsity Stadium. Polley and some of her friends had blocked the Bloor St. entrance to the stadium and set about yelling and spraying spittle at everyone who went in.
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_07.11.96/NEWS/st0711.htm

Polley, a card-carrying and very left-wing member of the NDP, is also trying to balance a strong commitment to social causes and a career that sometimes finds her rubbing elbows with Hollywood's who's who.
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesArtistsP/polley_sarah.html

These strong views have had their share of problems. During one violent clash between police and protesters at Queen’s Park Sarah lost a couple of back teeth. She has also garnered her share of criticism. This came most noticeably in an exchange in eye Weekly. This summer Ian Connerty, in writing about a protest at a speech by Tory Mike Harris, referred to Sarah as "The vertically challenged Polley, who must have lost her sweet and virginal persona somewhere on a TV soundstage." Sarah answered back in a letter to the editor stating that she lost that persona "in the real world. I lost it in a riot at Queen’s Park. I lost it in a world of bad journalism." Five years before, during the Gulf War, when Sara was 12, she was attending an awards show in Washington DC She was sitting at a table with representatives from Disney. They asked her to remove a peace symbol that she was wearing. She refused. "Disney never called me again. I used to get two or three auditions a year from Disney, and I never got a single one after that." The loss of Disney doesn’t seem to bother her, however. "Maybe I’ll never work for Sullivan Film or Disney again but I don’t feel like I’m going to be crying a lot about that."
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Bungalow/2131/polley.html

"Being an activist has been difficult at times, too. In the few interviews I've done, people have been interested in my politics. But then there was this turning point, where I started to see that it was becoming a gimmick It was like, in lieu of saying her hobbies are horses and dogs, it's 'Oh, and she's a socialist.'"
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1285/9_29/55683963/print.jhtml

And this, I found sad and amusing. An entry from the guest book of a Sarah Polley fansite:
"I grew up watching Sarah Polley on 'Avonlea.' I adored the show and Sarah herself. However, I am no longer a fan. Reading her interviews, I can't believe some of the total BS that flies out of her mouth.... Get off your high horse and go move to Cuba since you are a commie-lover. I am so sad that my childhood idol turned out to be such a stupid bitch."
http://books.dreambook.com/noall/sarahpolley.html

Small people yelling can be terrifying.

She must be younger than I thought she was, if she was twelve during the Gulf War. It's always worrying to find out you're older than very successful people. Bastards ;-)

God, people are so stupid.
Duckie

Remember this: Sarah Polley eats meat, kicks zombie ass, and is a staunch NDP supporter. OK, you probably knew the last bit.

What has changed is the way in which Polley approaches her politics. In 1995, she made headlines across the country when two of her teeth got broken in a chaotic protest outside of Queen's Park. Now, she prefers to stay behind the scenes, as she did on Toronto Mayor David Miller's winning campaign.

"I like canvassing and making phone calls and organizing things," she says. "I don't think I'm good at being a spokesperson. I think there are people way more qualified to do that work."

So, while she's a supporter of the NDP -- "I think they're the only alternative right now" -- and has plans to work on Toronto City Councillor Olivia Chow's campaign should she run for federal office, don't expect her to take part in any NDP rockathons. " shouldn't become more visible than the candidate or the issue," she says. "I just don't want to hear the Barenaked Ladies talk about what Jack Layton stands for; I want to hear Jack Layton talk about that."

http://tinyurl.com/34sp2

Including one of my favorite directors, Atom Egoyan, in one of my favorite movies, "Exotica".

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001631/

hook me up! :bounce: