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Suits Star Sarah Rafferty Says She Would Suit Up as Donna Again in Spin-Off

“Donna lives in my heart always,” Rafferty said. ”I’m always open to let her out to play.”

By James Grebey
Sarah Rafferty appears in an episode of Suits

Sarah Rafferty says she’s ready to suit up again. The actress, who played Donna Paulsen on the hit drama Suits, says would be interested in returning to the role in a rumore spin-off series that’s expected due to the show’s massive surge in popularity this summer when it was available to stream on Peacock and Netflix. 

RELATED: Who Is Sarah Rafferty, the Actress Who Plays Donna on Suits? Everything to Know

Although no such spinoff has been officially confirmed by NBCUniversal, Rafferty said she would happily return to the role while doing press for her the Netflix series My Life With the Walter Boys, in which she stars. 

“Donna lives in my heart always,” Rafferty told TheWrap. ”I’m always open to let her out to play.”

According to Variety, the as-yet-officially announced Suits spin-off will be set in Los Angeles, and it will feature the same sort of high-stakes legal maneuvering and personal drama as the original series, only on the opposite coast. 

The show will “have the same energy and good-looking people that the original did,” according to Beatrice Springborn, president of Universal International Studios.

Sarah Rafferty appears in an episode of Suits

Who those good-looking people are remains to be announced, but it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine Rafferty’s Donna making at least an appearance in the show, to capitalize on the series' renewed popularity. Suits ended its run on the USA Network in 2019, but this past summer — due in part to wider streaming availability and the relative lack of new shows due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes — it became a sensation once again, becoming one of (if not the) most popular show of the summer. 

“I was gobsmacked and grateful,” Rafferty said of Suits' second life in her conversation with TheWrap. “You can’t really get your head around what billions of minutes mean. It’s kind of too much to compute, except for being super grateful that people were finding it and that it was providing a service to them in any way, whether it was escapist, or that they were connecting with their friends or their family members over it.

“I’ve had some feedback that people just feel like they know the Suits characters so well because there’s so many episodes,” Rafferty continued. “They feel like it’s family with that familiarity. I think that’s incredibly beautiful and gratifying to hear. That built me up.”

RELATED: Suits Spinoff Set in LA Teased By Universal Executive: "Great Storytelling and Great Character Work"

For all but two of Suits’ 134 episodes, Rafferty played Donna, the best legal secretary in the New York City law world, and she frequently helps Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) whenever they need her input or advice. 

There’s no confirmation on whether Donna will appear in the Suits spin-off despite Rafferty’s willingness to appear — again, the series hasn’t even officially been announced and there’s certainly no premiere date. If she does, though, it would be up to Aaron Korsh, the creator of Suits who has been tasked with penning the spin-off. 

Catch up on all nine seasons of Suits and the one-season spinoff Pearson, streaming now on Peacock

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