UP FRONT WITH SARA

In the political drama, Paxton offers a different look on the headline-grabbing mistress

For Sara Paxton, the gig felt like serendipity. Before The Front Runner, “I was listening to a podcast about Gary Hart,” the actress, 30, recalls. “I couldn’t believe I had never heard this story!” A year later, the script — and role of Donna Rice — fell into her lap. “I was so excited because she is portrayed totally differently,” she adds. “She’s written with dignity and respect.”

SO RAD Thanks to director Jason Reitman, the cast easily time-warped to the ’80s. “Every day, he’d create a newspaper with articles from that exact day in 1988,” says Paxton.

“We couldn’t be ad libbing about iPhones! We knew the bestselling books and what people were talking about. It really put us in the moment.”