When Harvey's beloved assistant Donna got the boot a few weeks back, we were left stunned. Not only is she the resident source of comic relief on Suits, but she's Harvey's righthand woman! She can't be gone forever, right? Luckily, the promo for tonight's episode is an epic one. Pearson Hardman goes to court and Harvey's taking the fall for Donna's mistake. Will that fracture their relationship forever?
I caught up with actress Sarah Rafferty to get the dirt on Donna's firing and what we can expect.
Ology: So Donna's firing episode was pretty emotional for me. What was it like shooting that episode?
Sarah: I’m so grateful for the writers for such an awesome episode and we had Christopher Misiano directing it and he just has such an amazing spirit that you just completely trust him. I’m just so lucky that we have somebody we all have faith with. We really kinda got our character and got what was going on in this episode. My stomach was in knots most of the time. The ironic thing is, I actually got food poisoning while we were shooting that episode. The night before the first scene that was up the next day where Jessica fires Donna, I was up barfing! And I was pretty bummed I was up barfing, but I was like "Oh, it sorta makes sense. I mean Donna would be up barfing too!" I’m not a method actor, but I was like "Maybe I should do this" (laughs).
How did you feel reading this script and knowing that that Donna was going to screw up that badly?
Well I had been told it was going to happen before we started shooting this season and when they first told me, I was totally freaked out. It was sort of a funny moment. I started shaking and couldn’t believe it, and I was nervous. Then once a couple moments went by, I realized it was gonna be so fun to play this stuff and dig into this. So, I didn’t know how it was going to happen or why it was going to happen. So you can imagine each time I got a script, I wanted to know what was going on. What was such a huge mistake that it could be so bad she had to go? And then when it was that document that she found with her date stamp on it, I thought, "This is huge, this is no joke. The writers aren’t pulling any punches. She’s gotta get fired. There’s no choice here."
That last scene between Donna and Harvey killed me!
The silent one? It’s amazing what can happen without even dialogue.
Yes!Some people think she should have said something to him. What do you think was going through her mind at that point?
I think there was too much to say in this moment. There’s no words. When something huge happens and it’s with someone you’re close to and somebody you’ve been close to for 10 or 15 years, you say so much more with just being present to each other and not saying anything. I think for Donna there was a whole amazing range of:
"I can’t believe this happened, I can’t believe I messed up this badly. I’m so sorry I let you down. I am angry with you that you didn’t do it yourself and you let Jessica do it and that was humiliating and that was really hard and I felt very alone. And yet I’ve done this thing to you and I’m sorry and I hope you’re gonna be ok and I hope we’re gonna be ok."
I felt like it was just this whole roller coaster of stuff going on.
We see you in this week's promo, so you'll definitely be back. How much can you say about when or how this whole thing gets resolved?
It’s not something that’s easily resolved. There’s a lot of tension and complications that have come up for Harvey and Donna that they’re gonna have to work through.
Mike confronted Donna about the document. Will she harbor resentment toward him at all? She knows his secret and he still has his job...
That’s a great question. I think there’s no doubt that she’s angry at Harvey. I think what Donna does is she harbors the anger towards Harvey about that because Harvey was able to save Mike in the first episode of Season 2, and somehow Harvey managed to not fire Mike. And now this event has happened and she has a much longer relationship with Harvey and she’s the one to go? You know, I think she’s really disappointed with Harvey and I don’t think it serves her to hold a huge grudge against Mike. Its really in Harvey’s court, you know? His action or inaction is what she’s angry about.
A lot of people are pulling for Donna and Harvey to hook up. Do you think that would ever work?
I think Donna has told herself she thinks that would be a disaster.
You're probably right. So what is you’re favorite part about playing Donna?
I love how witty she is. I just love how smart, and witty and I love her sense of humor. I think Aaron Korsh once told me of all the characters, Donnas sense of humor is closest to his and I think that’s really fun for me to have a chance to play. She’s cool. She’s just smart and witty and cool. I like her. Besides being just smart and sassy and being quick on her feet, she has a really big heart. She’s incredibly loyal and empathetic and really cares about everybody else. She’s so valuable to the firm because she’s a people person.
We couldn't agree more!
How do you think the trial will pan out? Leave your theories in the comments!
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