Sherri Michelle 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 (2013–2018) 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, In Treatment and Locke & Key, as well as for her roles in the daytime soap operas Sunset Beach and One Life to Live.
Early life
Saum was born in Dayton, Ohio, to a German mother and an African-American father. She got her start at a Model Search America convention near her home in Kettering, Ohio. 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.