Shawn Batten as Sara Cummings

Shawn Batten joined the cast of "Sunset Beach" as the scandal-plagued intern Sara Cummings and younger sister of Meg in May 1998. Most of Batten's extended family lives in Newfoundland, Canada, but from the age of 4 she was raised primarily in New Jersey with her younger sister, Sharon. Her sister is presently a senior in college, studying marketing and planning to work in the fashion industry. Although Batten is the only one in the family to become an entertainer, she's quite close to them. "I'll even call my mom to ask her what to wear sometimes," she admits. Acting was something Batten always wanted to do, even as a youngster. "I was hardly in elementary school when I told my mom, 'I want to do that,'" explains the actress. When she was 14, her parents took her to Manhatten every Saturday to attend a day-long session for young people at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Batten appeared in high school plays, and at 16 she began auditioning. A testmarket commercial for Bounce was her first paying job. Since then, she has appeared in the feature film Quiz Show and in a number of independent films, in theater and on television. "I tend to play characters who die," she says wryly. "A girl-next-door innocent victim." In the film One Dog Day, Batten got to play a "bar crawling, manipulative character. I did anything I could to get my own way. And that was fun." Just before SUN, Batten appeared in several episodes of Beverly Hills, 90210. And prior to that stint, she did sitcoms. Batten has been dating music producer and guitarist Steve Lukather for about six months. he still plays with the group Toto and travels often. "He's very supportive and understanding," she says. "I'm very happy. My life is fantastic right now." Whether her character Sara's life works out well will be anybody's guess. Her television credits include playing Brittany on MTV's comedy series "Apartment 2F" as well as Officer Tammy Hanson on "Beverly Hills 90210" and assorted print work and television commercials including Dr. Pepper, AquaFresh, Pizza Hut, Entenmanns, Tylenol Sinus. Batten currently resides in Los Angles with her boyfriend. 
From NBC Daytime.

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