Suits star Gabriel Macht has revealed that he often finds himself apologizing to fans who changed their entire career paths because of the hit drama.
The acclaimed legal drama aired for nine seasons between 2011 – 2019, and also starred Meghan Markle, Patrick J Adams, Sarah Rafferty and Gina Torres and Rick Hoffman.
It focused on college dropout Mike Ross (Patrick) as he tricked his way into a job at New York law firm Pearson Hardman, working as the associate to cocky and ridiculously dapper lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel) – despite not having a law degree.
After a hugely successful return to Netflix, a spin-off series titled Suits: LA, will be released on February 23 – with Gabriel reprising his role as Harvey for a brief stint.
In a new interview ahead of the series premiere, the 53-year-old opened up about the huge reaction from viewers, and what he tells those who went to law school because of the episodes.
‘There are so many kids that have gone to law school because of the show — because they think it’s fast-moving, there’s family, there’s loyalties, it’s cool, it’s slick. People are witty. There’s a lot of drama, all this kind of stuff,’ he told People Magazine.
‘When people come up to me and they’re like, “I went to law school because of you,” I always apologize profusely.
‘[He tells them]: “If you like to read, that is great because you’re going to sit with a book, like this, for hours.’”
‘The thing about this show… It’s commitment. People have watched 134 episodes, which is our nine seasons. They’ve watched it multiple times. And so for me, that is fanatical a little bit.’
Despite some over-eager fans, Gabriel is thrilled to have seen the show have a resurgence over the last few years – thanks to its reappearance on Netflix, as well as snippets all over TikTok.
This has led to excitement for the upcoming spin-off, which he will be reprising his character for in a string of episodes.
‘[I’m] excited for them to take the ball and run with it,’ he added.
TV bosses announced Suits LA in 2023, with the first trailer dropping last month ahead of the February release date.
Gabriel dusted off a very expensive suit when he returned for a ‘three-episode guest arc’ – but this does not mean that he will join the series in a full-time role.
He confirmed his comeback in an intriguing video on Instagram in November, set to Greenback Boogie by Ima Robot, aka the theme tune for the original program.
The very brief clip began with a close-up of Harvey’s monogrammed shirt cuffs, before panning down to a pair of shiny brown shoes, with his name written in the insole.
It ended with Gabriel putting the shoes on, before going on with his day.
Alongside the upload, he wrote: ‘When an old friend is in need…it’s time to take care of things and make those very “things” right.’
It is not clear when exactly he will make a reappearance, but we can already imagine the flood of law school applications…
The ninth and final season ended with Harvey marrying his iconic assistant Donna (Sarah), with the pair moving to Seattle to join Mike and Rachel (Meghan).
Suits: LA will focus on the drama at a completely different firm, tackling the legal issues on the west coast – Stephen Amell is set to lead the way as powerful lawyer Ted Black, as he navigates a crisis point with the company.
Suits is available to stream on Netflix now, while Suits LA will premiere on USA on February 23.
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