Sandra, an above average student, attended Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA, where she joined the cheerleading squad. After being voted "Most Likely to Brighten Your Day" by her senior class, she graduated from WLHS in 1982. 

     Sandra pursued a higher education at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where she enrolled as a drama major. Here she performed in Chekhov's Three
Sisters, studying under the instruction of Don Biehn, who has fond memories of Sandra's performance and abilities. 

     Following her endeavors at ECU (three credits short of graduating), Sandra moved to New York to study method acting, instructed by Sanford Meisner. She dishonestly attained a bartending job, and later fled to Los Angeles to pursue acting. Four years after leaving ECU without a degree, Sandra landed the starring role in the NBC sitcom Working Girl, which she later considered her "quickest flop". She also starred in Love Potion No. 9 as a psychobiologist. Although the movie didn't bring her any quick fame, it did bring her a three year relationship with Tate Donavan, her costar in the film. The ending of the relationship left Sandra
emotionally damaged, but she has recovered well, claiming the two are "really strong soul mates." (Premiere, July 1996) 

     Sandra played the supporting role of a kidnapped victim in The Vanishing, a waitress in Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, a "wannabe country singer" in The Thing Called Love (for which she wrote and performed her own song entitled Heaven Knocking on My Door), and a futuristic street cop in
Demolition Man, replacing Lori Petty (Tank Girl). It is this role which seemingly clinched her part as Annie, an "average 'girl'", in the 1994 box office smash Speed. In 1995,
director Jon Turteltaub gave Sandra her first starring role as Lucy in While You Were Sleeping, this time replacing Demi Moore, for whom the part was originally intended. That same year, Sandra rocked the box office again as Angela Bennett in The Net. 

     1996 brought $6 million to Sandra's door, starring as Ellen Roark in John Grisham's A Time to Kill.  Sandra's '96 schedule also includes Two If By Sea (January 12), In Love and War, and Kate and Leopald, in which she was the star of her first production. 

     Sandra's career is certainly booming. Since she was in sixth grade, she's had her mind set on acting. This is perhaps the secret to her success. She hasn't come this far in perfection, however, stating more than once lessons she has learned along the way. It is her "I want to do it ; I'm going to do it" attitude that's brought her so much success and fame. As nearly anyone who knows her will tell you, she doesn't have the "I'm famous" bug. When asked in an interview with 48 Hours, "Is it correct to call you a superstar?" Sandra responded, "No it's not." She refers to herself as an "actor who happens to be fortunately working a lot." She simply
loves what she's doing, and does it best. 

     Joel Schumacher, director of A Time To Kill, sums it up well. "I've known Sandra for years. She's one of my favorite people on the planet. To know her is to love her."