Sherri Michelle Saum (born October 1, 1974)[1] is an American actress. Saum is best known for her co-lead role as Lena Adams Foster in the Freeform drama series The Fosters (2013–2018) as well as a subsequent guest star role in its spinoff Good Trouble (2019–2024). She is also known for her television roles in Beggars and Choosers, Rescue Me, In Treatment and Locke & Key, as well as for her roles in the daytime soap operas Sunset Beach and One Life to Live.
Sherri Saum | |
|---|---|
 Saum in 2014 | |
| Born | Sherri Michelle Saum October 1, 1974 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Ohio State University New York University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
editSaum was born in Dayton, Ohio,[2] to a German mother and an African-American father.[3] She got her start at a Model Search America convention near her home in Kettering, Ohio.[4] She was discovered during high school, modeling mostly during summer breaks until she moved to New York to work full-time with the NY modeling agency Images Management. Saum attended Ohio State University in Columbus, and New York University in New York.[5]
Career
editSaum began her acting career in the NBC daytime soap opera, Sunset Beach as Vanessa Hart, during the entire run of the series, from 1997 to 1999. In 1999 she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for her role in the show.[6] Later in 1999, Saum was cast as a series regular in the Showtime comedy-drama series Beggars and Choosers (1999–2000), and guest-starred on Girlfriends, and Charmed. From August 31, 2001, to September 16, 2003, Saum had her second daytime television role in the ABC soap, One Life to Live, as Keri Reynolds.[7][8]
From 2006 to 2007, Saum played the role of Natalie in the FX drama series Rescue Me. She appeared in the Hallmark Television film Relative Stranger with Cicely Tyson and Eriq La Salle. She also appeared in the independent film Ten Stories Tall with Ally Sheedy and Josh Hamilton. In 2009 she played the series regular role of Bess in season 2 of the HBO drama series In Treatment.[9] The next few years she had guest-starring roles in CW's Gossip Girl, CBS's Unforgettable, ABC's Body of Proof and Revenge.[10] In 2011, Saum was cast as the lead character of the ABC drama pilot Grace (written by Krista Vernoff), opposite Abigail Spencer and Eric Roberts, but the show was not picked up.[11]
In 2012, Saum was cast along with Teri Polo in the lead roles of the Jennifer Lopez-produced drama series The Fosters for ABC Family.[12][13] The series premiered on June 3, 2013.[14][15] The series ended in 2018 after five seasons. She reprised her role in its spinoff, Good Trouble in 2019.[16] While on hiatus from The Fosters, she took various guest starring roles in network dramas. In 2014, she guest starred in the NBC legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where her real-life pregnancy was incorporated into the plot. In 2015 she guested in the ABC series, How to Get Away with Murder[17][18] and “The Mysteries of Laura”. In 2016 she guested on “Code Black” on CBS and in 2018 on the TNT adventure series “The Librarians”. After The Fosters ended, Sherri played the adult Regina Louise in the biographical feature “I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story” and joined the ABC Marvel sci-fi series “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” for three episodes.
In 2019, Saum co-starred opposite Jessica Biel in the Facebook Watch drama series Limetown. Earlier that year, she was cast as Heather Hemmens' character's mother Mimi DeLuca in the CW series, Roswell, New Mexico.[19] In early 2019, Saum was cast in a series recurring role in the Netflix fantasy drama series, Locke & Key playing the role of Ellie Whedon, a teacher at Matheson Academy who has a mysterious history with the Locke family.[20] Filming in Toronto and Lunenburg, Canada, through the spring and summer of 2019, she split her time, flying home to her family in Los Angeles frequently. Later in 2019, she returned to Toronto for two episodes of the Starz thriller “Condor” as Senator Thrush. Seasons 2 & 3 of Locke & Key filmed consecutively and because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Sherri spent several months in 2021 in Canada filming her season 2 (recurring) and season 3 (series regular) episodes.[21] That year she also returned to Good Trouble and guested as Paula Matarazzo in the Starz franchise Power Book II: Ghost. [22] In March 2022 Sherri returned to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in a different role than she had played almost exactly 8 years earlier. The same week she appeared again as state politician and vivid sexter Lena Adams Foster on Good Trouble.
Personal life
editOn May 19, 2007, Saum married longtime boyfriend and former One Life to Live castmate Kamar de los Reyes in New York City.[23] On December 3, 2013, Saum's rep announced that the couple was expecting twins; the children were born in 2014.[24][25] In addition, Saum is the stepmom of de los Reyes’ son.[citation needed]
On December 24, 2023, de los Reyes died from cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 56.[26]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Anne B. Real | Janet Gimenez | |
| 2003 | Finding Home | Candace | |
| 2005 | Love and Suicide | Georgina | |
| 2010 | Ten Stories Tall | Susan | |
| 2018 | #SquadGoals | Jane Pope |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–1999 | Sunset Beach | Vanessa Hart | Series regular Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (1999) |
| 1999–2001 | Beggars and Choosers | Casey Lennox | Series regular |
| 2000 | Girlfriends | Angela Anderson | Episode: "The Importance of Being Frank" |
| 2001 | Charmed | Ariel | Episode: "Pre-Witched" |
| 2001–2003 | One Life to Live | Keri Reynolds | Series regular Nominated – Daytime Emmy Award for America's Favorite Couple (2002) |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Tiffany Jackson | Episode: "Pattern of Conduct" |
| 2006 | Love Monkey | Daria | Episode: "Nice Package" |
| 2006 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Lydia Wyatt | Episode: "The Healer" |
| 2006 | Drift | Luna | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2006–2007 | Rescue Me | Natalie | Recurring role |
| 2007 | Army Wives | Vanessa Kelsing | Episode: "Only the Lonely" |
| 2009 | In Treatment | Bess | Main role (season 2) |
| 2009 | CSI: Miami | Karen Ballard | Episode: "Point of Impact" |
| 2009 | Relative Stranger | Nicole Tate | Television film |
| 2009–2010 | Gossip Girl | Holland Kemble | 4 episodes |
| 2010 | Heroes | Kate Bennet | Episode: "The Wall" |
| 2010 | Memphis Beat | Melinda Connor | Episode: "One Night of Sin" |
| 2010 | Lie to Me | Candice McCallister | Episode: "The Royal We" |
| 2011 | Grace | Shay Grace Davis | Unsold TV pilot |
| 2011 | The Whole Truth | Dr. Christy Turner | Episode: "Lost in Translation" |
| 2011 | Body of Proof | Nina Wheeler | Episode: "Letting Go" |
| 2011 | Unforgettable | Rosario Sanchez | Episode: "Road Block" |
| 2012 | CSI: NY | Elaine Moore | Episode: "Unwrapped" |
| 2013 | Revenge | Donna Carlisle | Episode: "Collusion" |
| 2013–2018 | The Fosters | Lena Adams Foster | Main role |
| 2014 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Sondra Vaughn | Episode: "Gambler's Fallacy" |
| 2015 | How to Get Away with Murder | Tanya Randolph | Episode: "It's Called the Octopus" |
| 2015 | The Mysteries of Laura | Cecilia Burke | Episode: "The Mystery of the Dead Heat" |
| 2016 | Code Black | Shawna Jacobson | Episode: "Corporeal Form" |
| 2018 | The Librarians | Karla | Episode: "And the Hidden Sanctuary" |
| 2019–2024 | Good Trouble | Lena Adams Foster | Recurring role, 6 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | Roswell, New Mexico | Mimi DeLuca | Recurring role |
| 2019 | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Altarah | 3 episodes |
| 2019 | Limetown | Gina Purri | Recurring role, 8 episodes |
| 2019 | I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story | Adult Regina Louise | Television film |
| 2020–2022 | Locke & Key | Ellie Whedon | Recurring role (seasons 1–2); main role (season 3) |
| 2020–2021 | Grey's Anatomy | Allison Robin Brown | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Condor | Senator Thrush | 2 episodes |
| 2020-2022 | Power Book II: Ghost | Paula Matarazzo | Recurring role |
| 2022 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Cressida "Cress" Gordon | Episode: "Sorry If It Got Weird For You" |
| 2022 | CSI: Vegas | Jodi Wallach | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | Perfect Harmony | Barrett Woodward | Television film |
| 2023 | Mrs. Davis | Danni | 2 episodes |
| 2024 | Dead Boy Detectives | Maddy |
References
edit- ^ Chakraborty, Sourav (September 29, 2022). "CSI: Vegas season 2: Meet the new actors joining the CBS show". SkPop.
- ^ One Life to Live: Bios Accessed December 12, 2007
- ^ "Mixed Actors and Actresses Page 4". Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
- ^ Moss, Meredith (January 6, 1995). "The Model Student". Dayton Daily News.(subscription required)
- ^ "Sherri Saum Biography". Tvguide.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "Daytime Emmy Nominees List 1". Variety. Los Angeles. March 11, 1999. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
- ^ "About OLTL: Who's Who in Llanview | Keri Reynolds | One Life to Live @". Soapcentral.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "One Life To Live Throwback Thursday Poll: Keri Reynolds' Death. - One Life To Live News - Soaps.com". Soaps.sheknows.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "Sherri Saum on In Treatment | Daytime Confidential". Daytimeconfidential.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "Sherri Saum Books 'Juicy Role' On ABC's 'Revenge'". IndieWire. November 30, 2012. Archived from the original on December 4, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 6, 2011). "Andrew J. West, Marcia Gay Harden, Sherri Saum Get Pilot Leads". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 24, 2012). "Teri Polo & Sherri Saum To Star In Jennifer Lopez's ABC Family Pilot 'The Fosters'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "'West Wing,' 'Rescue Me' Actresses to Star in Jennifer Lopez's ABC Family Pilot". Hollywoodreporter.com. September 24, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
- ^ "ABC Family picks up two new dramas". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ "Teri Polo & Sherri Saum To Star In Jennifer Lopez's ABC Family Pilot 'The Fosters'". Deadline Hollywood. September 24, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 20, 2018). "'Good Trouble': 'The Fosters' Stars Teri Polo and Sherri Saum To Reprise Roles On Spinoff Series". Retrieved January 31, 2019.
- ^ Michael Ausiello (October 2015). "Sherri Saum Joins 'How to Get Away With Murder': 'HTGAWM' Season 2 Cast - TVLine". TVLine. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "'How to Get Away With Murder' Casts 'The Fosters' Star Sherri Saum in Guest Role". TheWrap. September 30, 2015. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- ^ "Roswell, New Mexico Adds The Fosters Star Sherri Saum". E! Online. October 12, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
- ^ Roots, Kimberly (January 25, 2019). "Sherri Saum Joins Netflix's Locke & Key". Retrieved January 31, 2019.
- ^ Press, Lindsay (December 2, 2021). "Locke & Key: Sherri Saum promoted to series regular". Culturess. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ Patten, Dominic (July 21, 2020). "'Power Book II: Ghost' Adds 'Locke & Key's Sherri Saum To Spinoff Cast". Deadline. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ James Reynolds (June 9, 2007). "Two ABC ('OLTL' and 'AMC') soap stars off the market". Jamaica Gleaner. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013.
- ^ "Sherri Saum Pregnant, Expecting Twins With Kamar de los Reyes - Us Weekly". Usmagazine.com. December 3, 2013.
- ^ "Sherri Saum Introduces Twin Sons John and Michael". People.com. August 6, 2014.
- ^ Barnes, Mike (December 25, 2023). "Kamar de los Reyes, One Life to Live and Call of Duty Star, Dies at 56". The Hollywood Reporter. United States: Eldridge Industries. ISSN 0018-3660. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
External links
edit- Sherri Saum at IMDb
- Sherri Saum on Twitter