# Sasha Alexander

Suzana Drobnjakovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Сузана Дробњаковић on May 17, 1973), known by her stage name Sasha Alexander, is an American actress and television director. She played Gretchen Witter in Dawson's Creek and has acted in films including Yes Man (2008) and He's Just Not That Into You (2009). Alexander played Caitlin Todd for the first two seasons of NCIS (2003–2005). From July 2010 through September 2016, Alexander starred as Maura Isles in the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles, and was a regular in Season 5 and 6 of Shameless in 2015–2016.

## Early life

Alexander, who is of Serbian and Italian descent, was born Suzana Drobnjakovic in Los Angeles, California. She began acting in school productions in the seventh grade. She was also an ice skater, but stopped due to a knee injury. She continued acting through high school and college, then moved to New York City to act in summer stock and Shakespeare festivals. She graduated from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television, where she was a member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta.

## Career

Alexander got her acting start on two short-lived series: the medical drama Presidio Med and ABC's twenty-something drama Wasteland. She achieved widespread media attention and critical praise when she appeared in the fourth season of Dawson's Creek as Gretchen Witter, the sister of Pacey Witter, and dated the title character. Alexander was also in an episode of the short-lived Fox comedy series Greg the Bunny, in which she played the role of a lesbian TV Guide reporter and shared an onscreen kiss with Sarah Silverman.
Alexander appeared in the films Lucky 13 and All Over the Guy, as well as He's Just Not That Into You (in the role of Catherine), the independent movie The Last Lullaby, and Yes Man (as Lucy) starring Jim Carrey. She appeared as District Attorney Robin Childs in the CSI episode "Alter Boys", and she appeared in an episode of Friends ("The One with Joey's Interview"), playing a Soap Opera Digest reporter who interviewed Joey.
Alexander joined NCIS as Secret Service/NCIS Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd in 2003. Her character replaced Vivian Blackadder, played by Robyn Lively, who had appeared in the backdoor pilot episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" on JAG. The official pilot episode "Yankee White" aired September 23, 2003, on CBS. Alexander's two year tenure on the show ended in May 2005 when her character, Kate, is killed by a terrorist who shoots her in the head during the last few seconds of the season-two finale, "Twilight".
The official explanation for her departure was that "she asked to be let out of her contract to pursue other opportunities". In statements made by Alexander since her departure from NCIS, she has made clear that her problem with the show was that she felt the workload was too physically demanding for her.
In subsequent television series work, episode counts were considerably smaller, and her character portrayals required less physical effort than her role on NCIS. In her final appearances in the two-part episode "Kill Ari", Alexander was credited as a special guest star. Her character Caitlin Todd reappeared in a "what if" scenario with Anthony DiNozzo for the NCIS 200th episode "Life Before His Eyes" in 2012, however, Alexander did not return to film new footage for the episode; rather footage from the second season episode "SWAK" was recut to incorporate her into the new episode.
She also had a small role in 2006's Mission: Impossible III. She joined the cast of The Nine in the role of Nick's ex-wife.
From 2010 to 2016, Alexander played Dr. Maura Isles for seven seasons on the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles – the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Medical Examiner, who works with the Boston Police Department. Alexander co-starred with Angie Harmon, who played Boston Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli, Isles's best friend on the show.
In 2015, Alexander began a recurring role on Showtime's Shameless portraying Helene Runyon, one of Lip Gallagher's college professors. Her character Helene maintains an open relationship with her husband Theo (played by Michael Reilly Burke) which allows her to have sex with Lip. The relationship between Helene and Lip is both romantic and one which provides him with guidance in his college career, but the affair blows-up in season six (2016).
Alexander was cast opposite Ludacris in the 2018 drama film The Ride. In 2018, Alexander guest-starred in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode, "Caretaker" (season 20, episode 8), as villainess Anna Mill. Alexander played Detective Chesler in the 2020 Netflix film, Dangerous Lies.
Since 2020, she has voiced Addie in the animated web-series Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons, based on DC Comics. In 2021, Alexander directed the 9th episode "Red Flag" of season 3 of the Netflix show You.

## Personal life

On September 18, 1999, Alexander married Luka Pecel, but their marriage was later annulled. She subsequently married director Edoardo Ponti in 2007 (the younger son of actress Sophia Loren and film producer Carlo Ponti). They have two children, a daughter Lucia and a son Leonardo. Jessica Capshaw is godmother to Lucia. Alexander speaks English, Serbian, Italian, and some French.
In December 2018, she defended NCIS costar Michael Weatherly after he had been accused of sexual harassment by Eliza Dushku.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Visceral Matter | Karen Chambers | |
| 1997 | Battle of the Sexes | | Short film |
| 1999 | Twin Falls Idaho | Miss America | |
| 2001 | All Over the Guy | Jackie Samantha Gold | |
| 2005 | Lucky 13 | Susie | |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | Melissa Meade | |
| 2007 | NCIS: Ducky's World | Special Agent Caitlin Todd | Video short |
| 2008 | The Last Lullaby | Sarah | |
| 2008 | Yes Man | Lucy Burns | |
| 2008 | Tenure | Margaret | |
| 2009 | He's Just Not That Into You | Catherine | |
| 2009 | Love Happens | Jessica (photographer) | |
| 2009 | Play Dead | Carolanne | Video |
| 2011 | Coming & Going | Alex Michaels | |
| 2013 | The Girl from Nagasaki | Adelaide | |
| 2017 | Bernard and Huey | Roz | |
| 2018 | Amanda McKay | Marianne | |
| 2018 | The Ride | Marianna Buultjens | |
| 2020 | Dangerous Lies | Detective Chesler | |

## Television
### As actress

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Wasteland | Jesse Presser | Main role (season 1) |
| 2000–2001 | Dawson's Creek | Gretchen Witter | Recurring role (season 4) |
| 2001 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | District Attorney Robin Childs | Episode: "Alter Boys" |
| 2001 | Ball & Chain | Chloe Jones | TV movie |
| 2002 | Friends | Shelley | Episode: "The One with Joey's Interview" |
| 2002 | Greg the Bunny | Laura Carlson | Episode: "Surprise!" |
| 2002 | Presidio Med | Dr. Jackie Collette | Main role (season 1) |
| 2003 | Expert Witness | | TV movie |
| 2003–2005;2012;2015 | NCIS | Special Agent Caitlin Todd | Main role (Seasons 1–2) Guest role (Seasons 3, 9 & 12) Voice (season 8) |
| 2006 | E-Ring | Allyson Merrill | Episode: "War Crimes" |
| 2006 | The Nine | Juliana | Episode: "Outsiders" |
| 2009 | Dark Blue | DEA Agent Julia Harris | Episode: "A Shot in the Dark" |
| 2009 | The Karenskys | Emily Atwood | TV movie |
| 2010 | House | Nora | Episode: "The Down Low" |
| 2010–2016 | Rizzoli & Isles | Dr. Maura Isles | Main role (Seasons 1–7) |
| 2015–2016 | Shameless | Helene Runyon | Recurring role (Seasons 5–7) |
| 2016 | Dinner at Tiffani's | Herself | Episode: "Ladies Who Lunch" |
| 2016 | Celebrity Name Game | Herself | Episode 121 |
| 2018 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Anna Mill | Episode: "Caretaker" |
| 2019 | FBI | Valerie Caldwell | Episode: "American Idol" |
| 2020 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Michelle | 1 episode |
| 2020 | Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons | Adeline "Addie" Kane (voice) | Main role |
| 2020 | Amazing Stories | Paula Porter | Episode: "The Cellar" |
| 2023 | Law & Order | Congresswoman Kristin Bartell | Episode: "Private Lives" |
| 2023 | The Morning Show | Salma | Episode: "Love Island" |

### As director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016 | Rizzoli & Isles | Season 7 Episode 10 "For Richer or Poorer" |
| 2021 | You | Season 3 Episode 9 "Red Flag" |
| 2022 | Bull | Season 6 Episode 19 “Opening Up” |

### As producer

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2005 | Lucky 13 | Co-producer |

## Accolades

| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 2016 | People's Choice Awards | Favorite Cable TV Actress | Rizzoli & Isles | Won | |