Sarah Rafferty is the American actress best known for playing Donna Paulsen, the razor-sharp secretary turned partner, on the long-running USA Network legal drama Suits. Over more than two decades in film and television, she has built a career defined by sharp comic timing, emotional depth, and a steady presence both on screen and off. She has also become known, in interviews and on social media, for speaking warmly and carefully about her family without inviting the public too far into their private world.
Sarah Rafferty: Quick Facts
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Sarah Gray Rafferty |
| Born | 6 December 1972, New Canaan, Connecticut, USA |
| Occupation | Actress, podcast host |
| Education | Phillips Academy; Hamilton College (BA, English and Theatre); Yale School of Drama (MFA) |
| Best Known For | Donna Paulsen in Suits (2011–2019) |
| Recent Work | Dr Katherine Walter in My Life with the Walter Boys; co-host, Suits Sidebar podcast |
| Spouse | Aleksanteri “Santtu” Olli-Pekka Seppälä (married 2001) |
| Family | Two daughters |
| Notable Recognition | Children’s and Family Emmy Award nomination, Outstanding Supporting Performer |
| Charitable Work | Alzheimer’s Association; The Brain Project |
This article looks at Rafferty’s background, her rise through television and film, and what she has publicly shared about her marriage and family life over the years.
Early Life and Education
Sarah Gray Rafferty was born on 6 December 1972 in New Canaan, Connecticut, and grew up in the Riverside neighbourhood of Greenwich. She was <cite index=”10-1″>the youngest of four daughters in a close-knit family</cite>. Her mother, Mary Lee Rafferty, taught English for decades and <cite index=”10-1″>chaired the English department at the Convent of the Sacred Heart</cite>, an all-girls preparatory school, while her father worked in finance and painted as a hobby.
Rafferty’s love of acting took hold while she was still at school. She attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and later studied English and Theatre at Hamilton College in New York, spending part of her junior year abroad at the University of Oxford. She graduated magna cum laude from Hamilton in 1993 before going on to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama, where she trained intensively in stage craft before moving into television.
Career Highlights
Early Roles and Guest Appearances
Rafferty spent much of the 1990s and 2000s building experience through guest roles and small parts. Her early credits include appearances on Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Charmed, 8 Simple Rules, CSI: Miami and Bones, alongside film roles in titles such as Speakeasy, Falling for Grace and Four Single Fathers. This period gave her a broad grounding across drama and comedy, even before she landed the role that would define her career.
Breakthrough on Suits
In 2011, Rafferty was cast as Donna Paulsen in Suits, opposite Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Rick Hoffman, Gina Torres and Meghan Markle. She appeared in all but two of the show’s 134 episodes across its nine-season run, and her performance earned her widespread praise for its wit and warmth. The show also gave her a lasting friendship with Meghan Markle, and Rafferty was among the Suits cast members who attended Markle’s 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
Life After Suits
Since Suits concluded in 2019, Rafferty has continued to work steadily in television. She appeared in a multi-episode arc of Grey’s Anatomy in 2020, and later played Dr Pamela Blake, Division Chief of Transplantation Surgery, in Chicago Med. More recently, she has taken on the role of Dr Katherine Walter in Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys, a performance that earned her a Children’s and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Performer. She also co-hosts a Suits-focused podcast, Suits Sidebar, with former co-star Patrick J. Adams.
Alongside acting, Rafferty has supported causes including the Alzheimer’s Association and The Brain Project, and she hosted the annual Night at Sardi’s fundraising event in Los Angeles for two consecutive years.
Family Life: What Sarah Rafferty Has Shared Publicly
Rafferty keeps much of her home life private, but she has spoken openly, in select interviews and social media posts, about her marriage and motherhood.
Her Marriage
Rafferty married Aleksanteri “Santtu” Olli-Pekka Seppälä on 23 June 2001, at the Roman Catholic Church of St Mary in Greenwich, Connecticut. The couple met in the 1990s, and Rafferty has marked their anniversaries publicly over the years, once sharing a throwback photograph from 1994 to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Seppälä has built a career in finance and has generally stayed out of the public eye, rarely giving interviews or appearing at public events beyond supporting his wife.
Rafferty has credited her husband with helping her balance a demanding filming schedule with family life, saying in interviews that his support made it possible for her to work while remaining a present parent. When Suits was filming in Toronto, the family relocated together rather than living apart during production.
Motherhood
Rafferty has spoken about motherhood as central to her life, telling PEOPLE in December 2023 that her life “revolves entirely” around her children at this stage. She has two daughters with Seppälä, and has occasionally shared birthday tributes and family photographs on Instagram, generally framed around gratitude rather than detail. She has said that raising her daughters while working on a bicoastal production came with early worries, but ultimately became, in her words, a confidence-building experience for the family.
Beyond these general reflections, Rafferty tends not to discuss her children’s day-to-day lives, schooling or personal milestones in any depth, a boundary that appears deliberate and consistent across her public appearances.
Why Sarah Rafferty Remains a Notable Figure
Rafferty’s career spans more than two decades, moving from small guest roles to a defining part in one of the 2010s’ most popular legal dramas, and now into fresh territory with My Life with the Walter Boys. Her combination of stage training, television longevity and consistent public warmth has kept her relevant well beyond the end of Suits, while her approach to discussing family life, open about gratitude, guarded about detail, reflects a considered balance between public career and private life.
Conclusion
Sarah Rafferty’s journey from Yale-trained stage actress to household name on Suits reflects years of steady, disciplined work rather than a single overnight breakthrough. Her continued success on My Life with the Walter Boys shows a career still very much in motion. At the same time, her marriage to Santtu Seppälä and her role as a mother remain part of her story only in the broad strokes she has chosen to share, a private life kept deliberately separate from her public one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Sarah Rafferty best known for?
Sarah Rafferty is best known for playing Donna Paulsen in the USA Network legal drama Suits, a role she held for all nine seasons from 2011 to 2019.
Where did Sarah Rafferty study acting?
She studied English and Theatre at Hamilton College, spending part of her junior year at the University of Oxford, before earning a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama.
Who is Sarah Rafferty’s husband?
Sarah Rafferty has been married to Santtu Seppälä, a finance professional, since 23 June 2001. He generally stays out of the public eye.
Does Sarah Rafferty have children?
Yes, Rafferty has two daughters with her husband, though she keeps most details about their day-to-day lives private.
What is Sarah Rafferty doing now?
Rafferty currently stars as Dr Katherine Walter in Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys and co-hosts the podcast Suits Sidebar with former Suits co-star Patrick J. Adams.
