Sara Rue "grew up backstage," in her words, in Manhattan. Born on January 26, she is the elder of two daughters of a stage actress mother and a Broadway stage manager father. At the age of eight, Sara acquired an agent and made her screen acting debut in "Rocket Gibraltar" as Kevin Spacey's daughter. She got her first television job as a series regular playing Pamela Reed's daughter, Edda, in "Grand." With Sara's next series, as best friend Monica in the ABC comedy hit "Phenom," her family decided to move to Los Angeles rather than continue the ordeal of coast-to-coast commuting and long separations. She was a series regular as the ditzy secretary in "Minor Adjustments," which aired in the 1995-96 season, and as Melanie on "The Simple Life," which aired in the 1997-98 season on CBS. Rue played the lead in the CBS television movie-of-the-week "For My Daughter's Honor," and has guest-starred on "Roseanne," "Blossom," "ER," "Chicago Hope," and "Ned and Stacey."
Rue had a recurring role on the ABC series "Pearl" with Rhea Pearlman. Currenly she plays Breeny, a vile-tempered schoolgirl in a wheelchair, in Touchstone Television's comedy series "Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane." Rue will continue as Breeny, depending on schedules, along with her role on "Popular." Among her other feature film credits are "Passed Away" with Bob Hoskins and Maureen Stapleton, "Can't Hardly Wait," and the upcoming releases "A Slipped-Down Life" and "A Map of the World," based on the Jane Hamilton best-selling novel, in which she plays Sigourney Weaver's cellmate.
About Carmen, her "Popular" character, Sara was thoughtful. "She is emotionally available," she commented. "Carmen doesn't let things stew inside of her. Even though she can be hurt, she's tough." Away from her busy career, Rue plays the guitar and writes and performs what she calls "folky" music. She has dabbled in writing on and off for years, mostly one-act plays and a screenplay. She enjoys browsing flea markets, collects vintage clothes, and sees every movie she can. Sara makes her home in Los Angeles with three cats -- The Kraken, Miss Phipps, and Orange Popsicle #5 -- and a bearded dragon named Norman.

-from sara rue- the fan site