‘Suits’: Sarah Rafferty Talks Donna Paulsen Going To Work For Louis Litt

“Suits” returns Wednesday night on USA, and with the premiere of Season 5 comes the next stage in Donna Paulsen’s career – going to work for Louis Litt.

After narrowly escaping possible jail time thanks to Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and not getting what she needed from Harvey (an exploration of the “I love you” moment), Sarah Rafferty’s character Donna decided at the end of Season 4 it was time for a change. She told Harvey she was leaving him, and going to work on the desk of Louis (Rick Hoffman), who had courted her for the position over the years, and was in particular need of a secretary after the emotional loss of his “battle axe,” Norma.

When the new season premieres though, expect Donna to still be dealing with leaving Harvey.

PHOTOS: ‘Suits’ Season 5 Cast Portraits

“We pick up right where we left off,” Sarah told Access Hollywood. “She’s totally emotionally connected with what just happened, and I mean, to put it frankly, both Harvey and Donna – it’s gonna take a while to get used to this situation. It’s a big change for them. They have worked together for 12 years, and the relationship was very unique in terms of work relationships, so we’re gonna see them dealing with the aftermath of that moving into Season 5 for sure.”

While Suitors can expect some interpersonal issues between Donna and Harvey, Sarah said her character isn’t second guessing her decision to join Louis’ team.

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“I think she’s fully 100-percent totally committed going into it,” Sarah said. “She would not make a decision that she didn’t think was the right one. We’ve seen her get in trouble of course, in the past, with making those kinds of decisions – with shredding a document in Season 2 that led to her getting fired, or engaging in the relationship with Max Beesley’s character [Stephen Huntley]. She’s been wrong before, especially last season, but I think that teaming up with Louis – Donna sees it as a great idea. … She loves Louis.”

Another great idea, from Suitors’ perspectives anyway, is for Harvey and Donna to get on the same page, romantically. Harvey’s “I love you” moment with Donna spawned a lot of reactions, as do most of the scenes between the two characters.

“The Tweets that I get – it’s so fun to get all the different interpretations,” Sarah said.

“There was one Tweet last year that was so funny, and [Executive Producer] Aaron [Korsh] and I even got on the phone and talked to each other the night that the finale aired. … It’s so fun to be on Twitter because the stuff is rolling in like seconds after it was up on TV. … So somebody wrote — with tons of emojis – ‘FAN GIRL DOWN! FAN GIRL DOWN!’ I just thought that was so funny,” Sarah continued. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that people are so invested and that is so inspiring to us when we’re on set at 2 in the morning, when we’re shooting the show, to know that the fans are as invested as they are and the viewers are as engaged as they are. A lot of people Tweet like, ‘It’s obvious, like, duh! We all see it. Why can’t you guys see it?’ kind of thing, as if they’re Tweeting to the character Donna Paulson, when they’re really just Tweeting to the actress Sarah Rafferty. So it’s been fun, really fun.”

Sarah Rafferty as Donna and Rick Hoffman as Louis (USA)

WATCH: Gabriel Macht & Patrick J. Adams Talks ‘Suits’ Season 4

While Donna and Harvey aren’t getting on the love boat any time soon, one pair on the show are sailing for new waters — matrimony. Mike (Patrick J. Adams) proposed to Rachel (Meghan Markle) in the Season 4 finale. With a potential wedding in the show’s future, it seems clear that Donna’s mastery of (almost) everything means she will have to offer her services.

“Yeah, I think whether she’s asked to or not, she’s certainly going to view herself as a necessary maid in some ways. For sure she would be involved. Rachel is her BFF and I think Mike — she views him like a little brother, so she’ll definitely be involved in any kind of ceremonies or events surrounding that,” Sarah said.

“Suits” returns Wednesday at 9/8c on USA.

Jolie Lash

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