Sara was born in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California to what she has described as "a very mixed family". Her father, Steve Paxton, who is distantly related to actor Bill Paxton, is a businessman of Irish and European descent. Her mother is a dentist from Monterrey, Mexico, and as a result Paxton speaks some Spanish, although not fluently.Paxton is of Jewish heritage and celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah. An only child, she grew up in the San Fernando Valley and attended a private high school, graduating in June of 2006.
In 2006, Paxton applied to the University of Southern California's film studies program, but was rejected. She has noted that she would like to major in business administration with a minor in history and to start a production company.
Paxton began appearing in television commercials at a young age. Her first film role was a small part in the 1997 Jim Carrey comedy, Liar Liar. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, she appeared in a number of minor television and film roles, including a part on the soap opera Passions, a regular role on the series Greetings from Tucson, and a guest starring role on the Disney show, Lizzie McGuire, playing an ex-president of Lizzie's school. In 2003, Paxton starred in R.L. Stine's Haunted Lighthouse, a short 3-D film attraction that still plays at several theme parks across the United States.
Paxton's first major role was in the teen-oriented film, Sleepover, which opened in July 2004 to negative reviews and low box office; during the same summer season, she appeared in several episodes of the series, Summerland, playing Sara Burton, a mentally troubled teen who experimented with drugs and sex with Jesse McCartney's character. Paxton was subsequently 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, which aired from 2004 to 2006, often featured Paxton's music track, Take A Walk. Paxton received an Emmy nomination for the role in 2006.
In 2005, Paxton began working on the Australia-filmed Aquamarine, in which she played a mermaid, opposite Emma Roberts and JoJo, whom she befriended while filming; 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 also hosted The Secret Life of Water, the first episode of the series Planet H2O, which premiered in April of 2006 on public television stations. In May of the same year, she made an appearance on the television series Pepper Dennis, playing a teen actress.
Paxton recorded a song for Aquamarine's soundtrack titled Connected, a re-make of RBD's Tenerte Y Quererte. Her debut music CD, The Ups and Downs, featuring the single Here We Go Again, is due for release by Epic Records at some point in 2006. Paxton, who sees herself as an "evolving actress",[5] will next appear in Return to Halloweentown, replacing Kimberly J. Brown in the fourth installment in Disney Channel's Halloweentown series; the film will air 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 about college-age binge drinking. Paxton has 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 is scheduled to air in March of 2007.
