WARNING: This article contains spoilers from My Life With the Walter Boys.
Sarah Rafferty, who stars in My Life With the Walter Boys, has been a busy actress both on and off the screen, long before her days on the Netflix hit.
In the drama, Katherine Walter (portrayed by Sarah Rafferty) has always been a motherly figure to Jackie Howard (Nikki Rodriguez), and this dynamic continues into season two.
READ MORE:ABC’s David Muir returns to show after hiatus with ‘terrifying’ breaking news announcement
READ MORE:ABC’s David Muir has fans in tears as he halts show for breaking news on ‘horrible tragedy’
After a dramatic departure in the first season’s finale, Katherine persuades Jackie to return to Silver Falls, supporting her as she rebuilds her life on the ranch.
As the second season premieres today, Thursday, August 28, let’s delve deeper into the life of My Life With the Walter Boys star, Sarah Rafferty.
Inside Sarah Rafferty’s lifeGrey’s Anatomy
Rafferty is most recognized for her role as Donna Paulsen in the legendary series Suits, but in 2020, she secured a role in another popular drama.
She appeared in a three-episode stint on ABC’s longest-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, playing a character named Suzanne Britland.
After undergoing an appendectomy, Suzanne began exhibiting puzzling symptoms, leaving the doctors perplexed about her condition.
Fortunately, Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) and Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) were able to diagnose her with Macrophage Activation syndrome, and she left the hospital fully recovered.
Health scare
Several years prior to playing a patient on Grey’s Anatomy, Rafferty found herself hospitalized in real life after contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite in 2017.
She experienced symptoms including exhaustion, headaches, joint pain and memory problems.
The 52 year old revealed at the Women’s Health Summit in Los Angeles earlier this year: “I got in my car to go do a local errand, and I was like, ‘where do I live?’
“Like, I couldn’t read. I could read, like, the first line of the New York Times, and then I just couldn’t continue. It was really rough.
“I was grieving because… I was a mom. I had a 10-year-old and a six-year-old when it started.
“This is the thing that I’ve been struggling with… [but] being able to talk about it has brought more and more community of other people who are going through the same thing.”
Meghan Markle
Rafferty shared the spotlight on Suits for seven seasons alongside Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex who played senior paralegal Rachel Zane.
Although the Duchess no longer pursues acting, she maintains a close friendship with her former co-star who was present at both her wedding to Prince Harry and her baby shower in 2019.
Discussing the connection between herself, Markle and co-star Gina Torres, Rafferty previously told Today: “We called ourselves the sister wives.
“We were with each other for longer than we went to college or high school with our friends, so we became family in a way. We’re still family.”
Love life
Rafferty is married to financial analyst Santtu Seppala who she met while they were both studying at Yale University.
She was working on her MFA in acting while he was studying finance before going on to achieve his MBA at The Wharton School.
The couple dated for several years ahead of tying the knot in June 2001 and welcomed two daughters, Oona in 2007 and Iris in 2012.
Speaking to Parents Canada in 2014, she said: “They are the light of my life. They are so outgoing and funny and silly.
“They love to sing and dance, they love each other and they are incredibly affectionate. They crack me up every single day.”
Rafferty’s character Sarah serves as the head of the Walter family with a staggering 10 children at the ranch as well as Jackie.
Speaking out at the Flow Space Women’s Health Summit in Los Angeles, the star revealed how it was crucial for her to avoid falling into outdated clichés when depicting mothers.
Rafferty explained: “I think I’m pretty hyper vigilant that we get away from any kind of tropes that undermine women.
“I think we’ve had some really great conversations about representing mums that are spinning all of the plates.
“She’s a mum, she’s a vet, she’s got all these adopted and biological kids and it’s messy and she gets it wrong sometimes and there’s opportunities in getting it wrong for repair.
“Now, it’s not always like that, that’s not necessarily what the network always wants but if I can just find moments of realness, to just not do the mums dirty, that motivates me.”
My Life With the Walter Boys is available to watch on Netflix.