‘Suits’ Star Sarah Rafferty Reflects On Show’s Renewed Popularity: “This Thing We Worked On Is Providing Escape For People”

Lynette Rice

17 December 2023 at 0:56 pm·1-min read

Sarah Rafferty says she remains “gobsmacked” over how many new people have discovered Suits on Netflix.

In an interview with People, the actress who played the beloved Donna Paulsen on the USA series said “you can’t really metabolize that in a real-world kind of way” when seeing how many billions of viewing minutes the show has racked up on the streamer. Suits centers on famous litigator Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) who, impressed by university expellee Mike Ross’s (Patrick J. Adams) photographic memory and skills, brings him to the prestigious law firm he is a partner at.

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Rafferty played Harvey’s irreplaceable assistant before she later became a partner in the firm.

“I don’t get it,” the actress said about the behemoth viewership levels. “I’m incredibly grateful, because our world right now feels like it is growing increasingly dark and fractured, and if escaping for a few moments through tv helps…that makes me feel good. It’s as simple as that, knowing this thing we worked on for 10 years is providing escape for people, or providing connection or meaning in any way shape or form—even if that’s just having a break from the news of the world—-I’ll take it.”

In October, Deadline broke the news that Suit creator Aaron Korsh is in development of a Suits offshoot for NBCUniversal. This is not a revival or reboot and, unlike the 2019 Pearson, the new legal procedural is not a spinoff either. It would be a Suits universe series in the vein of the CSI and NCIS franchises featuring new characters in a new location.

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