Spotlight On: Sara Rue

With a television career stemming back nearly 20 years, Sara Rue has been a television star since her early days on the comedy series Grand, playing Pamela Reed’s daughter. With one year of a television series under her belt at the age of 12, Sara Rue was well on her way towards a long comedic career; through her teens and early 20’s, she guest-starred in over 16 television series and movies. It was not until she landed on the WB series Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane that someone must have taken notice of the vivacious red-head and that same year, she landed a major role in the Ryan Murphy series Popular.

Sara Rue co-stars on Eastwick / ABC

On  Popular Sara was cast as Carmen, the bubbly outsider who just wanted to be a part of the in-crowd. This was a break-out role for her, along with many of her co-stars, Leslie Bibb (Kings, Crossing Jordan), Carly Pope (Dirt, The Collector), and Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty, Harper’s Island). Despite lasting only 2 seasons,  Popular remains a fan-favorite and is frequently cited as one of the most relatable television portrayals of high school life.

After  Popular Sara was next seen in a cameo role in the World War II drama Pearl Harbor playing one of the nurses stationed in Pearl Harbor. From that point on, Sara slid effortlessly between film and television for another 5 years until she landed the feature role in the sitcom series Less Than Perfect.

Less Than Perfect ran 4 seasons, a remarkable achievement credited to the winning personality of Sara Rue and the strong supporting cast of Eric Roberts, Zachary Levi (currently starring in Chuck), Andrea Parker (formerly of The Pretender), Andy Dick, Sherri Shepherd, and Patrick Warburton. After moving to the notorious Friday night “death slot,” the series wrapped up and Sara returned to guest-starring in a variety of film and television roles, including a 3 episode arc on the enormously popular comedy The Big Bang Theory as Leonard Hofstadter’s girlfriend.

Finally, in stroke of good luck, Sara scored the delightful role as Penny Higgins, sidekick to Lindsay Price’s Joanna, in the new ABC series Eastwick. While not a lead role, Sara is radiant as Penny and frequently outshines her bigger name co-stars. Her comedic timing is pitch-perfect and she can garner a laugh with just a well-timed look. She also infuses Penny with such warmth and confidence that quickly it draws the viewers’ attention. She is an apt scene-stealer and her engaging personality makes us want to see more of her on screen.

If you have not yet had a chance to see this dazzling performer, be sure to check out Eastwick Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.