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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 ''I Spit on Your Grave'' (originally titled ''Day of the Woman'') is a 1978 American rape and revenge horror film edited, written, and directed by Meir Zarchi. The film tells the story of Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton), a fiction writer based ...
'' film series.


Early life

A native of
Puyallup, Washington Puyallup ( or ) is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States, located about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Tacoma and 35 miles (56 km) south of Seattle. It had a population of 42,973 at the 2020 census. The city's name comes from th ...
, 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 theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...
. She graduated from Rogers High School in 2003. Butler relocated to
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
to study theatre at the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
, and then played Princess Belle in ''
Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
'', for a year and a half at
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, 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. Disney initially envision ...
. She dropped out of college, focused on finding a
talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...
, and began auditioning for work in television and film.


Career

Butler guest-starred on the television series ''
CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...
'' and ''
CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...
''. 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 a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...
''Luke 11:17'', directed by
Don Stark Donald Mario Stark (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 '' Hit the ...
. She also had a recurring role on the web series ''
I Heart Vampires ''I Heart Vampires'' (Often stylized as ''I <3 Vampires'') is a series produced by Take180 (a subsidiary of ...
''. Butler won the lead in the 2010 rape and revenge thriller ''
I Spit on Your Grave ''I Spit on Your Grave'' (originally titled ''Day of the Woman'') is a 1978 American rape and revenge horror film edited, written, and directed by Meir Zarchi. The film tells the story of Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton), a fiction writer based ...
'', 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 edge" helped convince her to take the role. Butler starred as Jennifer Hills, a novelist who is brutally gang raped 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 genre combining the 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. In terms of context and c ...
''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. known also as Billy Baldwin,is an American ...
in
Mallorca, Spain Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
in November 2011. The film was also scheduled to shoot in
Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Butler then joined the cast of the independent thriller ''
Treachery Treachery is the betrayal or violation of trust. Treachery may also refer to: *Treachery (law), an offence in several countries, related to treason * Treachery (''Revenge''), the eighth episode of the American television series ''Revenge'' * ''Tr ...
'', starring
Michael Biehn Michael Connell Biehn ( ; 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'' (1986), and ...
, which began filming in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
in June 2012. In 2013, Butler starred in the horror film ''The Demented'', with Michael Welch and
Kayla Ewell Kayla Noelle 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 ...
, and the anthology film ''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'' ( , "Once upon a time (there was) 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 ...
" of the ABC television drama '' Castle''. 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 ''I Spit on Your Grave'' (originally titled ''Day of the Woman'') is a 1978 American rape and revenge horror film edited, written, and directed by Meir Zarchi. The film tells the story of Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton), a fiction writer based ...
''. Butler co-starred with
Lindsay Hartley Lindsay Hartley (born Lindsay Nicole Korman; April 17, 1978) 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 Aria ...
and
Traci Lords Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered the adult film industry using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult f ...
in the 2016 Lifetime TV film '' Nightmare Nurse''. She also played a comedian in
Debra Eisenstadt Debra Eisenstadt 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 H. Macy. Eisenstadt w ...
's film '' Before The Sun Explodes'', which premiered at the 2016 South by Southwest film festival. Butler guest starred on the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
television series ''
Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...
'', 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 ...
". In 2017, she starred with
Charles Shaughnessy Charles George Patrick Shaughnessy, 5th Baron Shaughnessy (born 9 February 1955) is a French actor. He is known for his roles on American television, including Shane Donovan on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'', and Maxwell Sheffield on th ...
in ''Moontrap Target Earth'', produced by the makers of the 1989 sci-fi film ''
Moontrap ''Moontrap'' is an American 1989 science fiction film from Magic Films. Written by Tex Ragsdale and directed by Robert Dyke, it was released on April 28 at WorldFest Houston. A comic book adaptation, featuring the film's production notes, was rel ...
''. 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 P. Buckley Jr. (born February 13, 1965) is an American actor and financial analyst best known for his role as David Wallace on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' from 2006 to 2013. Early life Buckley was born in Salem, Massachusetts, ...
,
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 Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama ''McMillan & Wife''. He also played Herman Munster in the late-1980s ...
and Sam Jones III.


Personal life

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


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