Sarah Butler (actress)
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Sarah Elizabeth Butler (born February 11, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Jennifer Hills in the '' I Spit on Your Grave'' film series.


Early life

A native of
Puyallup, Washington Puyallup ( ) is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is on the Puyallup River about southeast of Tacoma and south of Seattle. The city had a population of 42,973 at the 2020 census. The city's name comes from the Puyallu ...
, Butler was interested in the arts while growing up; she sang in choirs, entered singing competitions, and performed in high school and
community theatre Community theatre refers to any Theatre, theatrical performance made in relation to particular Community, communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a communit ...
. She graduated from Rogers High School in 2003. Butler relocated to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to study theatre at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, and then played Princess Belle in ''
Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...
'', for a year and a half at
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
. She dropped out of college, focused on finding a
talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...
, and began auditioning for work in television and film.


Career

Butler guest-starred on the television series '' CSI: Miami'' and '' CSI: NY''. She was cast in the film ''A Couple of White Chicks at the Hair Dresser'' and the 2008 Syfy TV horror film '' Flu Bird Horror''. She had a role that year on the
web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
''Luke 11:17'', directed by
Don Stark Donald Martin Stark (born July 5, 1954) is an American actor known for his role as Bob Pinciotti on the Fox Network sitcom ''That '70s Show'' for all eight seasons (19982006) and fictional Los Angeles Devils owner Oscar Kinkade in VH1's '' Hi ...
. She also had a recurring role on the web series '' I Heart Vampires''. Butler won the lead in the 2010 rape and revenge thriller '' I Spit on Your Grave'', a remake of the 1978 cult film of the same title. Although initially put off by the film's nudity and violence, the film's strong
character arc A character arc is the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story. If a story has a character arc, the character begins as one sort of person and gradually transforms into a different sort of person in response to c ...
and "
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
edge" helped convince her to take the role. Butler starred as Jennifer Hills, a novelist who is brutally
gang rape In scholarly literature and criminology, gang rape, also called serial gang rape, party rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrato ...
d while staying at a cabin in the woods; her character then seeks revenge on her rapists. Directed by Steven R. Monroe, the film was released on October 8. Butler began filming the
psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...
''The Stranger Within'', alongside
Estella Warren Estella Dawn Warren (born December 23, 1978)"Estella Warren". ''Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television''. Vol. 69. Gale, 2006. Gale Biography In Context. Web. May 26, 2011. is a Canadian actress, fashion model and former synchronized swimmer. ...
and
William Baldwin William Joseph Baldwin (born February 21, 1963) Note: While birthplace is routinely listed as Massapequa, that town has no hospital, and brother Alec Baldwin was born in nearby Amityville, which does. is an American actor and the second-younge ...
in Mallorca, Spain in November 2011. The film was also scheduled to shoot in
Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øres ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Butler then joined the cast of the independent thriller '' Treachery'', starring
Michael Biehn Michael Biehn ( or ; born July 31, 1956) is an American actor, primarily known for his roles in science fiction films directed by James Cameron; as Sgt. Kyle Reese in ''The Terminator'' (1984), Cpl. Dwayne Hicks in ''Aliens (film), Aliens'' (1 ...
, which began filming in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in June 2012. In 2013, Butler starred in the horror film ''The Demented'', with Michael Welch and
Kayla Ewell Kayla Ewell (born August 27, 1985) is an American actress known for her roles on television as Caitlin Ramirez on CBS's long-running soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', as Maureen Sampson on NBC's ''Freaks and Geeks'', and as Vicki Donov ...
, and the
anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...
''Tom Holland's Twisted Tales'', playing a bomb disposal expert in the segment "Boom". In 2014, she played a murder victim in the episode "
Once Upon a Time in the West ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' ( is a 1968 epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone, who co-wrote it with Sergio Donati, based on a story by Dario Argento, Bernardo Bertolucci and Leone. It stars Henry Fonda, playing against t ...
" of the ABC television drama ''
Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
''. In 2015, Butler reprised her role as Jennifer Hills in '' I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance Is Mine'', a sequel to 2010's '' I Spit on Your Grave''. Butler co-starred with
Lindsay Hartley Lindsay Hartley (born Lindsay Korman) is an American actress. She first came to attention with three long-running soap opera roles: Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald on '' Passions'', Cara Castillo on ''All My Children'', and Arianna Hernandez on ''Da ...
and
Traci Lords Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. As a 15-year-old high-school dropout, she used Identity document forgery, fake identity documents to enter the sex industry, where she began appearin ...
in the 2016 Lifetime TV film ''
Nightmare Nurse ''Nightmare Nurse'' is a 2016 American crime thriller television film directed by Craig Moss. It stars Sarah Butler, Steven Good, Lindsay Hartley, and Traci Lords. The film premiered on March 5, 2016, on Lifetime Television. Plot A young co ...
''. She also played a comedian in
Debra Eisenstadt Debra Eisenstadt (born July 23, 1969) is an American writer, director, producer and editor. Career Eisenstadt began her career as an actress, most notably starring in the theater and film versions of David Mamet’s '' Oleanna'' opposite William ...
's film '' Before The Sun Explodes'', which premiered at the 2016
South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
film festival. Butler guest starred on the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
television series ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
'', playing Danielle in the episode "
You Haven't Done Nothin' "You Haven't Done Nothin" is a 1974 funk single by Stevie Wonder, taken from his album ''Fulfillingness' First Finale'' and featuring background vocals by the Jackson 5. The politically aware song became Wonder's fourth Number-1 pop hit and his t ...
". In 2017, she starred with
Charles Shaughnessy Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy, 5th Baron Shaughnessy (born 9 February 1955) is a British actor. His roles on American television include Shane Donovan on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', Maxwell Sheffield on the sitcom ''The Nanny ...
in ''Moontrap Target Earth'', produced by the makers of the 1989 sci-fi film '' Moontrap''. She also starred in the Lifetime TV film ''Infidelity in Suburbia'' as Laura, a woman who begins an extramarital relationship. Butler also appears in the film ''Doubting Thomas''. Most recently, Butler joined the cast of writer/director Chris Blake's indie horror film '' All Light Will End'', alongside
Andy Buckley Andrew Patrick Buckley Jr. is an American actor and former stockbroker, best known for his role as David Wallace on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' from 2006 to 2013. Early life Buckley is the son of Barbara J. (King) and Andrew P. Buck ...
,
John Schuck Conrad John Schuck Jr. (born February 4, 1940) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sergeant Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama ''McMillan & Wife''. He also played Herman Munster in the late- ...
and
Sam Jones III Samuel L. Jones III (born April 29, 1983) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Pete Ross on the first three seasons of the Superman television series ''Smallville'', Willie Worsley in the 2006 film '' Glory Road'', Craig Shilo on ' ...
.


Personal life

On June 10, 2021, she married musician Mel Elias, after seven years of dating.


Filmography


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Sarah 1985 births Actresses from Washington (state) American film actresses American television actresses Living people People from Puyallup, Washington USC School of Dramatic Arts alumni 21st-century American actresses