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.

Career

Saum began her acting career in the NBC daytime soap opera, Sunset Beach as Vanessa Hart, during the entire run of the series, from 1997 to 1999. In 1999 she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for her role in the show. Later in 1999, Saum was cast as a series regular in the Showtime comedy-drama series Beggars and Choosers (1999-2000), and guest-starred on Girlfriends, and Charmed. From August 31, 2001 to September 16, 2003, Saum had her second daytime television role in the ABC soap, One Life to Live, as Keri Reynolds.

From 2006 to 2007, Saum played the role of Natalie in the FX drama series Rescue Me. She appeared in the Hallmark Television film Relative Stranger with Cicely Tyson and Eriq La Salle. She also appeared in the independent film Ten Stories Tall with Ally Sheedy and Josh Hamilton. In 2009 she played the series regular role of Bess in Season 2 of the HBO drama series In Treatment. The next few years she had guest-starring roles in CW's Gossip Girl, CBS's Unforgettable, ABC's Body of Proof and Revenge. In 2011, Saum was cast as the lead character of the ABC drama pilot Grace (written by Krista Vernoff), opposite Abigail Spencer and Eric Roberts, but the show was not picked up.

In 2012, Saum was cast along with Teri Polo in the lead roles of the Jennifer Lopez-produced drama series The Fosters for ABC Family. The series premiered on June 3, 2013. In 2015, she guest starred in the ABC series, How to Get Away with Murder.

Personal life

On May 19, 2007, Saum married longtime boyfriend and former One Life to Live castmate Kamar de los Reyes in New York City. On December 3, 2013, Saum's rep announced the couple were expecting twins. They welcomed twin boys John Rubén and Michael Luís on Tuesday, May 13, 2014.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Anne B. Real	Janet Gimenez
2003	Finding Home	Candace
2005	Love and Suicide	Georgina
2009	Relative Stranger	Nicole Tate	Television film
2010	Ten Stories Tall	Susan
2012	Take It	Lover	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997-1999	Sunset Beach	Vanessa Hart	Series regular, 281 episodes Nominated - Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series (1999)
1999-2001	Beggars and Choosers	Casey Lennox	Series regular, 29 episodes
2000	Girlfriends	Angela Anderson	Episode: "The Importance of Being Frank"
2001	Charmed	Ariel	Episode: "Pre-Witched"
2001-2003	One Life to Live	Keri Reynolds	Series regular Nominated - Daytime Emmy Award for America's Favorite Couple (2002)
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Tiffany Jackson	Episode: "Pattern of Conduct"
2006	Love Monkey	Daria	Episode: "Nice Package"
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lydia Wyatt	Episode: "The Healer"
2006	Drift	Luna	TV Pilot
2006-2007	Rescue Me	Natalie	Recurring role, 15 episodes
2007	Army Wives	Vanessa Kelsing	Episode: "Only the Lonely"
2009	In Treatment	Bess	Series regular, 6 episodes
2009	CSI: Miami	Karen Ballard	Episode: "Point of Impact"
2009-2010	Gossip Girl	Holland Kemble	Episodes: "The Debarted", "The Hurt Locket", "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World", "Ex-Husbands and Wives"
2010	Heroes	Kate Bennet	Episode: "The Wall"
2010	Memphis Beat	Melinda Connor	Episode: "One Night of Sin"
2010	Lie to Me	Candice McCallister	Episode: "The Royal We"
2011	Grace	Shay Grace Davis	TV Pilot
2011	Whole Truth, TheThe Whole Truth	Dr. Christy Turner	Episode: "Lost in Translation"
2011	Body of Proof	Nina Wheeler	Episode: "Letting Go"
2011	Unforgettable	Rosario Sanchez	Episode: "Road Block"
2012	CSI: NY	Elaine Moore	Episode: "Unwrapped"
2013	Revenge	Donna Carlisle	Episode: "Collusion"
2013-present	The Fosters	Lena Adams Foster	Lead role
2014	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Sondra Vaughn	Episode: "Gambler's Fallacy"
2015	How to Get Away with Murder	Tanya Randolph	Episode: "It's Called the Octopus"
2015	The Mysteries of Laura

[ Source: Wikipedia ]