Who is Sarah Rafferty?
If you are a fan of the series “Suits”, you will certainly know all about Donna Paulsen, but if you want to know more about the actress who portrayed this character, let us introduce you to Sarah Gray Rafferty. Sarah was born under the zodiac sign of Sagittarius on 6 December 1972, in New Canaan, Connecticut USA – she holds American nationality although she comes from a family of Irish and German descent.
She has over 35 acting credits to her name, and besides the mentioned role, she’s guest-starred in numerous series, including “Bones”, “Charmed”, and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, and has starred in movies such as “Mambo Café”, “Speakeasy”, and “Falling for Grace”, among others.
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Early life and education
Sarah was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut by her parents, Mary Lee and Michael Griffin Rafferty, alongside her three sisters, Constance, Maura and Ann.
Sarah had an interest in arts from an early age, and she credits her parents for this passion, saying that her mother, who was Chairwoman of the English Department at Convent of the Sacred Heart School, and her father, who worked in finance but also enjoyed oil painting, were both role models to her.
Sarah attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and upon matriculating in 1989, she enrolled at Hamilton College, in Clinton, New York, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English and Theatre in 1993.
During her junior year at college, she studied abroad at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, then after graduating from Hamilton, Sarah continued her education at the Yale School of Drama, in New Haven, Connecticut, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in 1997.
Roles in movies
Sarah made her acting debut in the 1998 TV movie “Trinity”, followed by her role as Amy in “Mambo Café” in 2000, and then two years later, she was seen as a Nurse in “Speakeasy”, a drama written and directed by Brendan Murphy.
In 2004, Sarah was cast to play Cora Stone in the sports comedy “Soccer Dog: European Cup”, before she portrayed Sydney in “Falling for Grace” in ’06, and then in the following year, she starred in the TV movies “What If God Were the Sun?” and “Football Wives”.
Sarah was seen as Julia in the comedy drama “Four Single Fathers” in 2009, and next she starred as Emily in “Small, Beautifully Moving Parts” in 2011, followed by her role as Avery Parker in the 2016 movie “All Things Valentine”.
Her most recent role was her portrayal in 2020 of Claire in “Browse”, also starring Lukas Haas and Bodhi Elfman.
Roles in series
Sarah made her first television appearance portraying Jennifer Shaliga in an episode of the series “Law & Order” in 1999, followed by her role as Laura Pope in “Walker, Texas Ranger” in 2001.
In the following year, Sarah guest-starred in “CSI: Miami”, “Third Watch”, and “The District”, while in 2003, she made appearances in “Without a Trace”, “Six Feet Under”, and “The Practice” before she was cast to play Doctor Casey Matthews in “Tremors”.
Sarah guest-starred in an episode or two of numerous series, including “Good Morning, Miami”, “8 Simple Rules”, “Samantha Who?”, and “Brothers & Sisters”, among others, before 2011, when she was cast to play her most notable role, for now, as Donna Paulsen in “Suits”, also starring Gabriel Macht, Meghan Markle, and Patrick J. Adams; the series was broadcast until 2019, and it has nine award nominations and won one.
In 2020, Sarah had a recurring role as Suzanne Britland in “Grey’s Anatomy”, and then, she was cast to play Doctor Pamela Blake in “Chicago Med”, and was seen in 13 episodes from 2021 until 2022, and currently Sarah is filming new series, entitled “My Life with the Walter Boys”, in which she will be seen as Doctor Katherine Walter.
Love life and marriage
Sarah hasn’t been the subject of any rumors and controversies concerning her love life and her sexual orientation, and it is widely known that she is a married woman.
She hasn’t spoken about her previous relationships before she met her future husband, Aleksanteri Olli-Pekka ‘Santtu’ Seppala, an American stock research analyst in the asset management unit of Lazard Freres & Company. Santtu is of Finnish descent, an Illinois, USA native, who is only knownto the public as the husband of the famous “Suits” actress.
The two married on 23 June 2001, with the wedding ceremony held at the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Mary in Greenwich, in the presence of their closest families and friends.
Sarah gave birth to their first daughter, Oona Gray, on 22 October 2007, and their second daughter, Iris Friday, in January 2012.
In one of her interviews, Sarah spoke about her marriage with Santtu saying: ‘I have an amazing spouse; we’re a team. He works, and I work, and we’re sort of doing this dance with each other so that we can be present to our kids. But I think the whole ‘balance’ thing is an illusion; we just embrace the imbalance.’
As of May 2022, Sarah and Santtu are married, and are raising their daughters together, in their residence in Los Angeles, California.
Interesting facts about Sarah
She isn’t a big fan of working out, so she has to have a trainer because that is the only way that she is going to do abs work.
Sarah thinks that doing Pilates made her taller.
She loves desserts, and as she said, she has ‘a sweet tooth’.
She enjoyed filming the series “Suits” in Canada, and once stated: ‘I like Canadians. Who doesn’t like Canadians? It’s amazing! They’re the friendliest people on earth.’
In 2017, Sarah made an appearance in several commercials for Lexus cars.
For over 20 years, she’s been a good friend of Gabriel Macht, her colleague from “Suits”.
Sarah’s Instagram account is being followed by over two million people.
Age, height, and net worth
Sarah is 49 years old, with natural red hair and hazel eyes; she weighs around 130lbs (58kgs) and is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall, with vital statistics of 35-25-35. Sarah wears shoe size 8, and her dress size is 2.
According to sources, while she was filming “Suits” her salary at the beginning was around $25,000 per episode, however, it seems that Sarah negotiated a better deal for herself later on. The same sources estimate that as of May 2022, Sarah’s net worth is close to $5 million.
