Sara Sugarman: Very Sara Sugarman

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Adam Robert Lewis sits down, virtually, with director Sara
Sugarman.

Sara, born in Rhyl, began her career as an actress making her
television debut aged just 14 as ’Jessica Samuels’ in the BBC
teen-drama ‘Grange Hill’.

Sara moved away from her acting career in the 1990s and decided
to further a career behind the scenes, directing.

Sara gained praise behind the camera with a number of
award-winning short films. Some of Sara’s early directorial
pieces took place on location in the Garw Valley, where I grew up
and consider home. 

Sara’s 1996 film ‘Valley Girls’, starring Gemma Jones and Wendy
Phillips especially resonated with me. Wendy, affectionately
known as Mrs Mop due to her previous job as our school cleaner,
inspired me to go after my dream of acting. Sara and her faith in
Wendy’s talent indicated that the dream was indeed
possible.

Sara returned to the Garw Valley in 2001 to film cult-classic
‘Very Annie Mary’, a musical-comedy written and directed by Sara,
starring Rachel Griffiths and Jonathan Pryce. I have fond
memories of this proudly Welsh film and coincidentally consider
it as my first acting job albeit as a very young extra amongst
the crowds!

Sara soon moved from the Welsh valleys to the Silver Screen of
Hollywood, where she directed motion pictures with Disney
including teen-flick ‘Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen’,
starring Lindsey Lohan, Adam Garcia and Megan Fox.

Sara’s most recent project “Saving the Cinema’ for Sky Movies,
follows the story of Liz Evans and her campaign to save the local
Lyric Cinema, starring Samantha Morton, Tom Felton and Jonathon
Pryce.

This interview held an extra ‘special something’ for me, almost a
feeling of things coming full circle. Being able to discuss how
my passion for acting began because of Sara and her work was
truly an honour.

And so with every story, we must start at the beginning…
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