Suits LA Star Sofia Pernas Has a Big Connection to This Is Us
From Morocco to Hollywood, and everything in between. This is where fans might recognize Suits LA's Sofia Pernas.
Playing a powerful woman seems to come effortlessly to actress Sofia Pernas. In NBC’s legal drama Suits LA, her character, Elizabeth Smith, is fierceness personified: strong, sharp, impeccably dressed, and not to be messed with. The actress’ real life may be just as fascinating, though far from the cut-throat world of Hollywood lawsuits.
Born in Morocco, she is a multilinguist, traveled extensively as a child, and almost chose journalism instead of acting. She also happens to be married to actor Justin Hartley, best known as Kevin Pearson, one of the triplets at the center of This is Us.
Here's everything to know about this Suits LA actress.
Who is Sofia Pernas?
According to her biography, Pernas was born in Fez, Morocco, to a Moroccan mother and a Galician father and is fluent in at least four languages: English, Spanish, Arabic, and German.
The family emigrated to Orange County, California, when she was a child, yet she never lost her love for adventure. She intended to pursue journalism to travel the world while reporting on new cultures. However, her life took a different turn when she was scouted by a modeling agent, which eventually led to acting. In 2011, she made her big screen debut in two films: Age of Dragons, starring Danny Glover, and the zombie-esque Underground. In 2014, she appeared in the horror film Indigenous and Roger Corman’s thriller Operation Rogue.
What are Sofia Pernas’s TV credits?
Pernas is an alum of the legendary daytime drama The Young and the Restless. She appeared on the series from 2015 to 2017 as Marisa Sierras before landing parts in several other TV shows — some simultaneously. On Jane the Virgin, Pernas perfected a British accent as Catalina Maria Mora, Jane’s cousin from London.
While still acting in Jane the Virgin, she juggled a starring role in the NBC military thriller The Brave. Playing an elite Defense Intelligence Agency operative Hannah Riveria required learning several unusual skills, including "intensive" weaponry training, she revealed to "The Hollywood Reporter."
Next came Blood & Treasure, where, like Suits LA, she played a cunning character who doesn’t back down to anyone. As art thief Lexi Vaziri, she joins forces with an antiquities expert to take down a terrorist who funds attacks with stolen treasure.
Sofia Pernas married Justin Hartley
Young and the Restless holds a special place in Pernas’s heart: it’s where she met her husband of four years, Justin Hartley. Love blossomed after they had both left the show: The two began dating in 2020 and tied the knot in March 2021. Pernas never wastes an opportunity to gush about her husband on social media, posting about dinner dates and photos with his 20-year-old daughter Isabella Justice Hartley, whom he shares with ex-wife, Days of Our Lives star Lindsay Korman Hartley.
“Happy Birthday to this stud of a husband - a man who says hell yes to a pink suit and cannonballs into every adventure we have together. Thank you for loving me like you do, and being everything I could’ve wished for in a partner and then some. Here’s to you!” she exclaimed on Instagram in 2023.
The two enjoy finding projects to collaborate on, including Quantum Leap and Tracker.
Who does Sofia Pernas play on Suits LA?
Pernas portrays LA city prosecutor Elizabeth Smith, who is going after a powerful Hollywood producer represented by Ted Black (Stephen Amell) who has been accused of murder. Knowing Smith is a force to be reckoned with, Ted pulls in Amanda Stevens (Maggie Grace) as co-counsel. In Episode Four, Smith visits Ted's office to confront him about a possible motive — a sordid love triangle — and we also discover another area of tension: Smith and Stevens have a contentious past, though we don’t know yet what exactly went down.
However, we're sure to find out the finer details as Suits LA continues.
Tune into Suits LA. You can new episodes on Sundays at 9 p.m. on NBC and streaming the next day on Peacock.
