Sherri Saum

Sherri M. Saum (born October 1, 1974) is an American actress. Saum is best known for her co-lead role as Lena Adams Foster in the Freeform drama series The Fosters (2013–18) as well as a subsequent guest star role in its spinoff Good Trouble (2019–present). She is also known for her television roles in Beggars and Choosers, Rescue Me and In Treatment, 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 M. Saum October 1, 1974 Dayton, Ohio, United States
Alma mater	Ohio State University New York University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Kamar de los Reyes ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2

Early life

Saum was born in Dayton, Ohio,[1] to a German mother and an African-American father.[2] She got her start at a Model Search America convention near her home in Kettering, Ohio.[3] 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.[4]

Career

Saum with Teri Polo in 2013

Saum 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.[5] 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.[6][7]

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.[8] The next few years she had guest-starring roles in CW's Gossip Girl, CBS's Unforgettable, ABC's Body of Proof and Revenge.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11][12] The series premiered on June 3, 2013.[13][14] The series ended in 2018 after five seasons. She reprised her role in its spinoff, Good Trouble in 2019.[15] In 2014, she guest starred in the NBC legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in 2015 in the ABC series, How to Get Away with Murder.[16][17]

In 2019, Saum co-starred opposite Jessica Biel in the Facebook Watch drama series Limetown. Also that year, she was cast as Heather Hemmens' character's mother in the CW series, Roswell, New Mexico.[18] The following year, Saum was cast in a series regular 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.[19]

Personal life

On May 26, 2007, Saum married longtime boyfriend and former One Life to Live castmate Kamar de los Reyes in New York City.[20] On December 3, 2013, Saum's rep announced the couple were expecting twins.[21] They welcomed twin boys John Rubén and Michael Luís on Tuesday, May 13, 2014.[22] Saum also has a stepson, Caylen de los Reyes, son of Kamar de los Reyes.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Anne B. Real	Janet Gimenez
	Finding Home	Candace
2005	Love and Suicide	Georgina
2009	Relative Stranger	Nicole Tate	Television film
2010	Ten Stories Tall	Susan
2012	Take It	Lover	Short film
2017	First Strike Butcher Knife		Short film
2018	#SquadGoals	Jane Pope

Television

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"
	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lydia Wyatt	Episode: "The Healer"
	Drift	Luna	TV Pilot
2006–2007	Rescue Me	Natalie	Recurring role
2007	Army Wives	Vanessa Kelsing	Episode: "Only the Lonely"
2009	In Treatment	Bess	Series regular
	CSI: Miami	Karen Ballard	Episode: "Point of Impact"
2009–2010	Gossip Girl	Holland Kemble	4 episodes
2010	Heroes	Kate Bennet	Episode: "The Wall"
	Memphis Beat	Melinda Connor	Episode: "One Night of Sin"
	Lie to Me	Candice McCallister	Episode: "The Royal We"
2011	Grace	Shay Grace Davis	TV Pilot
	The Whole Truth	Dr. Christy Turner	Episode: "Lost in Translation"
	Body of Proof	Nina Wheeler	Episode: "Letting Go"
	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	Lead 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"
	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	Good Trouble	Lena Adams Foster	Recurring role, 4 episodes
2019	Roswell, New Mexico	Mimi DeLuca	Recurring role
2019	I Am Somebody's Child: The Regina Louise Story	Adult Regina Louise	TV Film
2019	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Altarah	3 episodes
2019	Limetown	Gina Purri	8 episodes
2020	Locke & Key	Ellie Whedon	Recurring
2020	Grey's Anatomy	Allison Robin Brown	1 Episode
2020	Power Book II: Ghost	Paula Matarazzo	Recurring Role

References

1. One Life to Live: Bios Accessed December 12, 2007
2. "Mixed Actors and Actresses Page 4". Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
3. Moss, Meredith (January 6, 1995). "The Model Student". Dayton Daily News.(subscription required)
4. "Sherri Saum Biography". Tvguide.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
5. "Daytime Emmy Nominees List 1". Variety. Los Angeles. March 11, 1999. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
6. "About OLTL: Who's Who in Llanview | Keri Reynolds | One Life to Live @". Soapcentral.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
7. "One Life To Live Throwback Thursday Poll: Keri Reynolds' Death. - One Life To Live News - Soaps.com". Soaps.sheknows.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
8. "Sherri Saum on In Treatment | Daytime Confidential". Daytimeconfidential.zap2it.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
9. "Sherri Saum Books 'Juicy Role' On ABC's 'Revenge'". IndieWire. November 30, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
10. Andreeva, Nellie. "Andrew J. West, Marcia Gay Harden, Sherri Saum Get Pilot Leads". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
11. Andreeva, Nellie. "Teri Polo & Sherri Saum To Star In Jennifer Lopez's ABC Family Pilot 'The Fosters'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
12. "'West Wing,' 'Rescue Me' Actresses to Star in Jennifer Lopez's ABC Family Pilot". Hollywoodreporter.com. September 24, 2012. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
13. "ABC Family picks up two new dramas". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
14. "Teri Polo & Sherri Saum To Star In Jennifer Lopez's ABC Family Pilot 'The Fosters'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
15. 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.
16. Michael Ausiello. "Sherri Saum Joins 'How to Get Away With Murder': 'HTGAWM' Season 2 Cast - TVLine". TVLine. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
17. "'How to Get Away With Murder' Casts 'The Fosters' Star Sherri Saum in Guest Role". TheWrap. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
18. "Roswell, New Mexico Adds The Fosters Star Sherri Saum". E! Online. October 12, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
19. Roots, Kimberly (January 25, 2019). "Sherri Saum Joins Netflix's Locke & Key". Retrieved January 31, 2019.
20. "Two ABC ('OLTL' and 'AMC') soap stars off the market". Jamaica Gleaner. June 9, 2007. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013.
21. Takeda, Allison (December 3, 2013). "Sherri Saum Pregnant, Expecting Twins With Kamar de los Reyes - Us Weekly". Usmagazine.com. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
22. "Sherri Saum Introduces Twin Sons John and Michael". People.com. August 6, 2014.

External links

• Sherri Saum at IMDb
• Sherri Saum on Twitter