Who is Rachelle Goulding? Meet the actress who plays Samantha in Suits LA

Suits LA premiered on NBC on February 23, 2025, bringing a fresh set of cast members and a new setting, separate from the New York offices of the original Suits series. The show stars Stephen Amell as Ted Black and it tells his overarching story at the present-day timeline as an entertainment lawyer in LA as well as his life as a New York prosecutor some ten years ago.

Rachelle Goulding plays a key character in Ted's life, both in the past and the present. She portrays Samantha, Ted's ex-girlfriend, who conspired with his friend and partner to form a new, rival law firm. Their former relationship and recent rivalry open for a love-hate dynamic in the series.

Before landing the role of Samantha in Suits LA, Goulding appeared in a dozen projects, mostly on TV shows and TV films.

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Samantha Railsback: Exploring Rachelle Goulding's character in Suits LA

Rachelle Goulding's Samantha Railsback has been a recurring character in NBC's legal drama and the Suits spinoff, Suits LA. She has appeared in every episode since the show premiered on February 23, 2025, in some capacity.

Samantha also appears in both the present-day storytelling of Ted's life in LA as well as the flashback scenes of his life back in New York before he moved to the West Coast.

Samantha was an entertainment lawyer in the past and she and Ted were in a serious relationship. At some point, she said that she would marry him anytime that he asked. She was also close to Ted's brother, Eddie.

However, their relationship eventually ended although the reason for the split has remained a mystery so far.

In the present timeline, Samantha is revealed in the Suits LA premiere episode as Stuart Lane's (Josh McDermitt) new partner. Stuart and Ted were friends and started a law firm in New York a decade ago but he betrays Ted in episode 1 and takes most of their clients when he joins forces with Samantha.

Now, Ted's Black & Associates is a rival to Samantha and Stuart's Railsback Lane. Working at rival law firms means they are bound to face each other, which plays out in Suits LA season 1 episode 4.

Samantha represents the studio that wants Ted's entertainment client Lester to remove his name from the project they are producing. The case ends with back and forth between Samantha and Ted although Ted gets a good deal for his client in the end.

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Rachelle Goulding's filmography explored

Outside of playing Samantha Railsback in Suits LA, Rachelle Goulding has several other TV projects to her name. As per her IMDb page, she mostly guest-starred in hit TV shows during the start of her acting career.

Goulding appeared in episodic roles as Blake in Lucifer, Phoebe in EPIX's crime comedy series Get Shorty, and was also in General Hospital as Rylie. She also joined the cast of Lethal Weapon to play the role of Lisa Conlon before landing a guest-starring role as Serene in Casual.

Among her recent TV show appearances were in Firefly Lane, where she played Celeste in four episodes, and another cameo in NCIS: Hawaii.

Besides TV shows, Goulding also has acting credits in TV movies, including Her debut film, Window Theory, and the drama romance films from Hallmark: Always Amore and Roadhouse Romance.

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Catch Rachelle Goulding as Samantha Railsback in Suits LA, which is now streaming on Peacock. New episodes drop every week on Sunday nights on NBC before they arrive on the streaming platform.