Rachael Harris

Rachael Harris
Rachael Harris
	Harris at the 2017 WonderCon
Born	January 12, 1968 (age 56); Worthington, Ohio, U.S.
Other names	Rachel Harris
Alma mater	Otterbein College
Occupations	Actress; comedian;
Years active	1989–present
Spouses	Adam Paul (m. 2003; div. 2008); Christian Hebel (m. 2015; div. 2019);
Children	2

Rachael Harris (born January 12, 1968)^[1] is an American actress and comedian. The accolades she has received include nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Saturn Award.

In film, Harris has had lead roles as Susan Heffley in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series (2010–2012) and Linda White in Natural Selection (2011). She has also had notable supporting roles in For Your Consideration (2006), The Hangover (2009), Bad Words (2013), Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014), Old Dads (2023), and Mother of the Bride (2024).

In television, Harris has had main cast roles as Cooper on the ABC sitcom Notes from the Underbelly (2007–2008), Joanne Dunlevy on the Fox sitcom Surviving Jack (2014), Dr. Linda Martin on the Fox and Netflix fantasy series Lucifer (2016–2021), and Nora on season 1 of the Disney+ and Hulu horror series Goosebumps (2023). She had a recurring role as Sheila Sazs on the USA Network series Suits (2012–2019).

Early life and career

Harris first time with the arts came during a first grade talent show, performing "Please Mr. Postman" by the Carpenters, winning the talent show with the performance due to her brother stuffing the ballots.^[2]

Harris attended Otterbein College acting in drama plays such as 'night, Mother and The Cherry Orchard. A professor at the college recommended Harris do comedy instead of dramas but at first she did not agree with the suggestion as her intent was to be a stage actress.^[2] Harris' first acting job during college was in Cincinnati on the showboat Majestic, playing Maria from The Sound of Music.^[3] She graduated in 1989, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre.^[4]

Harris then moved to New York City and secured a commercial agent. To earn extra money she worked as a hostess at restaurants along Broadway and the Upper East Side.^[2] Meanwhile, she auditioned for theater roles eventually landing a job performing children's theater along the East Coast.^[3]

Career

Harris debuted on film in 1992 for Treehouse Trolls as the Treehouse Mom. She recalls the experience, "But Treehouse Trolls, that just came out of an audition in this shitty theater. Like, it wasn't even a theater. It was a room. Near Times Square. And I was like, "I hope this is a legitimate audition. I could be going in for a porn. I don't know"."^[5] She debuted on television on SeaQuest DSV in 1993.

After moving back to New York, Harris' agent was moving to Los Angeles and recommended that Harris come along for commercials and TV. In Los Angeles she performed at the Tamarind Theatre.^[3] After an appearance on Star Trek: Voyager in 1997, Harris went on to a recurring role in The WB's Sister, Sister through 1998.

A friend recommended Harris to come and watch the improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings. She enjoyed the group so much she decided to take classes and eventually landed a gig with the main company in 2000.^[3] She went on to teach for a time with The Groundlings school also.^[6]^[7]^[8] Working with the Groundlings helped for mockumentary screenwriter and director Christopher Guest to notice Harris.^[2] In 2000 she had a role in Guest's Best in Show.

In 2002 Harris made an appearance on Friends, I Love the '80s, and had TV commercial work which included ads for Avis and GEICO.^[6]^[7] Amongst the early commercial work, this was credited as helping Harris land a career in Hollywood.^[9] She had a stint as a correspondent for The Daily Show's 2002–2003 season which was considered a breakout role for her into comedy.^[2] In 2003 she had roles in A Mighty Wind, Daddy Day Care, and started appearances on Reno 911! from 2003 to 2022.^[7] In 2004 Harris hosted The Smoking Gun, made multiple appearances on such VH1 documentaries as I Love the '90s, Best Week Ever, The West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and an Expedia commercial.^[6]^[2]

Harris played the supporting role of Kevyn Shecket, Kirstie Alley's personal makeup artist, on the Showtime series Fat Actress in 2005.^[7] She was also in Monk, Kicking & Screaming, and commercials for Quaker Oats and T-Mobile.^[7]^[2]

In 2006 Harris acted in Guest's For Your Consideration and became the voice of turtle Karolyn Slowsky in the Comcast Slowskys television commercials until 2009, with reboots of the commercial series in 2011 and 2019.^[10]

Harris had guest roles on The Sarah Silverman Program in 2007 and 2008 and played Cooper in the ABC sitcom Notes from the Underbelly from 2007-2010. In 2008 she was in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Desperate Housewives.

In 2009 Harris had a role in the comedy The Hangover, playing Melissa, the domineering, abusive girlfriend to Ed Helms's character Stu.^[11] She also made an appearance on ABC's Cougar Town, playing Shanna, a woman who was the "nemesis" of Jules.^[12]

In 2010 she was in The Good Guys, a Super Bowl commercial for the 2010 Census,^[13] and Off-Broadway, she performed in Love, Loss, and What I Wore.^[14] From 2010 to 2012, she played Susan Heffley in the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid film trilogy. On ABC, she made a guest appearance in the Modern Family 2011 episode "Caught in the Act" as Amelia, a restaurateur and mother to a playmate of Lily Pritchett. She also appeared in Suits from 2012-2019 as Sheila Sazs, Louis Litt's on-and-off again love interest. She was in an episode of The Office in 2013.

In March 2014, Harris began a new role in the series Surviving Jack with Chris Meloni.^[15] In March 2015, Harris was cast as Linda, Lucifer's therapist in the Netflix original series Lucifer.^[16]

In 2018, Harris appeared alongside Cheryl Hines on the reality series Hell's Kitchen where they both sat in the blue team's chef's table in the episode "Hell Freezes Over".

Personal life

Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School in 1986.^[17]

Harris was married to actor Adam Paul from 2003 until their divorce in 2008.^[18] Harris and violinist Christian Hebel eloped on April 30, 2015, and married in New York City. They have two sons, born in 2016 and 2018.^[19] Harris filed for divorce from Hebel in 2019.^[20]^[21]

Filmography

Film

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Treehouse Trolls	Treehouse Mom	First acting role, VHS Video^[5]^[22]
1996	The Disappearance of Kevin Johnson	Fornaio Waitress #2
2000	Best in Show	Winky's Party Guest
2002	Showtime	Teacher
2002	Stuart Little 2	Additional voices
2003	A Mighty Wind	Steinbloom's Assistant
	Daddy Day Care	Co-Worker Elaine
	The Haunted Mansion	Mrs. Coleman
2004	Starsky & Hutch	Mrs. Feldman's Friend
2004	After the Sunset	June
2005	Kicking & Screaming	Ann Hogan
2006	For Your Consideration	Debbie Gilchrist
2007	Matters of Life and Dating	Carla
	License to Wed	Janine
	Evan Almighty	Ark Reporter
2009	The Hangover	Melissa
2009	The Soloist	Leslie Bloom
2010	Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Susan Heffley
2011	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules	Susan Heffley
2011	Natural Selection	Linda
2012	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days	Susan Heffley
2012	Wreck-It Ralph	Deanna	Voice
2013	Bad Words	Eric Tai's Mother
2014	Lovesick	Roberta
2014	Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb	Madeline Phelps
2015	Barely Lethal	Mrs. Larson
2015	Freaks of Nature	Mrs. Mosely
2016	Brother Nature	Aunt Pam
2019	International Falls	Dee
2023	Old Dads	Dr. Lois Shmieckel-Turner
2024	Unfrosted	Ana Cabanna
2024	Mother of the Bride	Janice

Television

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	SeaQuest DSV	Rose	1 episode
1997	Star Trek: Voyager	Martis	Episode: "Before and After"
1998	Sister, Sister	Simone	5 episodes
1999	Serial Experiments Lain	Female Knight	Voice: English version
2000	The Amanda Show		1 episode
2000	Two Guys and a Girl	Pregnant Damsel	1 episode
2001	Grosse Pointe	Reporter	1 episode
2001	Three Sisters	Sal	1 episode
2002–2003	The Daily Show	Correspondent
2002	Judging Amy	Alumni Volunteer #2	1 episode
2002	Friends	Julie	Episode: "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby (Part 1)"
2003	Frasier	Erin	Episode: "Guns N' Neuroses"
2003	Stuart Little	Margalo	Episode: "A Model Driver"
2003–2009	Reno 911!	Debbie Dangle-Frost, Claire the Madam	6 episodes
2004	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Joanne	2 episodes
	According to Jim	Mindy	1 episode
	The West Wing	Corrine McKenna	Episode: "The Hubbert Peak"
2005	Fat Actress	Kevyn Shecket	7 episodes
	Monk	Alice Westergren	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa"
	Committed	Ruby	1 episode
	8 Simple Rules	Margaret Brandenbauerbern	1 episode
2007	The New Adventures Of Old Christine	Claire	1 episode
	Notes from the Underbelly	Cooper	Main cast
	Matters of Life and Dating	Carla	TV movie
2007–2008	The Sarah Silverman Program	School Teacher	2 episodes
2008	Desperate Housewives	Sandra Birch	Episode: "City on Fire"
	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Megan	1 episode - Two and a Half Deaths
	Pushing Daisies	Georgeann Heaps	1 episode
	Suburban Shootout	Natalie Davenport	Pilot
	Hollywood Residential	Rachael	Voice, 3 episodes
	Frisky Dingo	A.L.E.X.	2 episodes
	Emily's Reasons Why Not	Lila Cox-Weiner	1 episode
2008–2009	Worst Week	Julie	2 episodes
2008–2010	The Life & Times of Tim	Adam's Date	Voice, 3 episodes
2009	Cougar Town	Shanna	1 episode
	True Jackson, VP	Kitty Monreaux	1 episode
	In the Motherhood	Blair	5 episodes
2010	My Boys	Marcia	3 episodes
	Glenn Martin, DDS	Melissa the Wedding Planner	Voice, 1 episode
	Childrens Hospital	Mrs. Throman	1 episode
	The Good Guys	Cynthia Savage	1 episode
	Party Down	Marguerite Tayler	1 episode
	Gary Unmarried	Rachael	1 episode
2011	Modern Family	Amelia	Episode: "Caught in the Act"
	Archer	Rona Thorne	1 episode
	$#! My Dad Says*	Soledad Cho	1 episode
2012	New Girl	Tanya Lamontagne	4 episodes
2012	Happy Endings	Suzanne	Episode "Sabado Free-Gante"
2013	Newsreaders	Wendy Hayflack	1 episode
2013	The Office	Rachael	1 episode
2012–2019	Suits	Sheila Sazs	27 episodes (Guest: seasons 2–5; Recurring: seasons 7–9)
2014	Surviving Jack	Joanne Dunlevy	Series regular
	Maron	Herself	1 episode
	Bad Judge	Dana McCoy	1 episode
2015	Gortimer Gibbon's Life on Normal Street	Mayor	1 episode
	BoJack Horseman	Cardigan Burke (voice)	1 episode
	RuPaul's Drag Race	Herself/Judge	1 episode
2016–2021	Lucifer	Dr. Linda Martin	Main cast
2018	Hell's Kitchen	Herself	Co-VIP guest diner for the blue team; Episode: "Hell Freezes Over"
2020	Make It Work!	Herself	Television special
2022	Ghosts	Sheryl	1 episode
2023	Fantasy Island	Tara Bendetti	1 episode
2023	Goosebumps	Nora	Main role (Season 1)