Sarah Edmondson is a Canadian actress, podcaster, and cult awareness activist. She is known for supporting roles on Hallmark Channel, and as a voice actress, most notably in Geronimo Stilton as Thea Stilton and as Lina in the Bratz films.
Edmondson is a former member of NXIVM, a now-defunct sex cult and pyramid scheme founded by Keith Raniere. In 2017, she left the group and confirmed longstanding criticism that NXIVM operated as a cult. The resulting New York Times exposé of NXIVM's abusive practices precipitated the downfall of the organization and its leaders.
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Career
Edmondson studied in the theatre program at Lord Byng Secondary School, Vancouver, British Columbia. She then graduated from Concordia University, Montreal, with a BFA in Theatre Performance. She has performed in a variety of YTV programs including Are You Afraid of the Dark, Student Bodies, Big Wolf on Campus and in series such as Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Godiva's, Edgemont and Continuum. In 2007, Edmondson was nominated for the Leo Awards in the category of "Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Short Drama" for her role in the Sparklelite Motel.
Edmondson is also a playwright. She performed her first play, a solo show, titled Dead Bird, at the 2005 Chutzpah Festival.
Edmondson starred in Lifetime Television's Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover, and A Gun to the Head in 2009, followed by J.J. Abrams's series Fringe in 2010.
Most recently, Edmondson has been seen in a series of TV series and films for Hallmark Channel, including When Calls the Heart (2014–present), Love at First Bark starring Jana Kramer, Wedding' March 2: Resorting to Love, and At Home in Mitford, based on the novel of the same name, starring Andie MacDowell and Cameron Mathison.
Voice work
She has created original voices for various Barbie, Bratz and Polly Pocket films. She also voices a number of animated series, including the characters of Lori in Transformers: Cybertron, (2005), Atlanta in Class of the Titans, Thea Stilton in Geronimo Stilton, and Sydney Gardner in Max Steel. Edmondson voiced Rainbow Dash's mom, Windy Whistles in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season seven episode "Parental Glideance".
NXIVM
Edmondson was involved in the Albany, New York-based organization NXIVM. After leaving it in early 2017, she publicly denounced the organization, stating that she was invited into "DOS", a substructure within NXIVM operated by Keith Raniere and Allison Mack, and was branded with Raniere's and Mack's initials at the latter's Albany home. Edmondson said she was recruited into DOS by her friend and NXIVM member Lauren Salzman. At the time, Edmondson and other DOS recruits were told the brand was derived from ancient symbols to portray the combination of the elements.
In 2017, at the urging of Catherine Oxenberg, Edmondson contacted Frank Parlato, a former NXIVM publicist, to share details about her branding experience. Parlato blogged about it at the Frank Report, with an agreement that he would not disclose Edmondson's name to stop the next branding session.
Edmondson showed the brand in a New York Times exposé of NXIVM in 2017.
Edmondson filed a complaint with the New York State Department against physician Dr. Danielle Roberts, alleging that Roberts performed the branding. The agency replied that it lacked jurisdiction because the alleged actions did not occur in a doctor-patient relationship, and advised Edmondson to report the matter to the police. After the allegations from Edmondson and others, Roberts was suspended from practice in a Wisconsin Hospital System where she had practiced between 2012 and 2014. Raniere and Mack were subsequently arrested on charges related to DOS; and were later convicted in 2020 and 2021.
Edmondson was the subject of a 2018 CBC podcast: Uncover: Escaping NXIVM, which is an investigative podcast series about the group, its leader Keith Raniere, and Edmondson's journey to escape.
Her memoir, Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life, was published by Chronicle Books in September 2019.
In an interview with Vancouver Film School released February 11, 2020, Edmondson revealed that she had recently undergone surgery to have her brand removed.
Personal life
Edmondson was previously married to a director. In 2010, she married actor and former Ivy League quarterback Anthony Ames. The couple has two children. Edmondson is Jewish.