Why Gabriel Macht Was Reluctant to Return in Suits LA: “I’ll Do It For the Fans”
After half a decade, the actor was convinced to suit up.
The idea of Harvey Specter returning to the Suits universe has been a hot topic ever since the announcement of the Suits LA spin-off in early 2024. Fans hoped for the stars to align, and they finally did in Episode 4 (“Batman Returns”). Gabriel Macht instantly shook up the screen when he appeared in a flashback sequence with Ted Black (Stephen Amell). The scene takes place before the events of Suits when he’s still a prosecutor at the New York District Attorney’s office. However, Harvey will be back for more episodes and the actor recently explained what made him decide to return.
Macht was thrilled to “pass the baton” to the “amazing” new cast on-screen, but a cameo was not always in the cards. It turns out the Suits OG was initially reluctant to reprise his role after what he deemed a successful finale of Suits in 2019. In a recent Today interview, he revealed why he balked at the idea and what made him change his mind.
Why Gabriel Macht is Returning to Suits LA
It took a bit of convincing for Macht to come back into the Suits fold because he felt all the characters “stuck their landing” at the end of the first series.
“At a certain point when you’ve shot 134 episodes, and you’ve got a beginning, middle, and end to a character, a lot of series have trouble finishing their storylines,” he told Al Roker on Today, adding that was not the case for Suits, so why mess with perfection.
“I feel like we stuck our landing, and I was ready to be done with the show," he added.
The flashback sequence in Suits LA was a clever way to get around that.
But the streaming success of Suits also made him rethink everything. Suddenly, Harvey, Mike, Donna, Louis, and the rest of the gang were all over our screens four years after the series finale in 2019.
“The resurgence was insanity. I think TikTok and Instagram and these little bits and pieces of witty banter started showing up … and it just reinvented the show in a way,” he explained.
Macht also got swept up in the momentum, and he began looking for a way to support the spinoff.
“It got me thinking, like, ‘You know what? The fans really love this show,’” he continued. By the time show creator Aaron Korsh asked him to come back, it seemed like a no-brainer:
“I was like, you know what? I’ll do it for the fans,” he stated.
Now that the floodgates are open, Macht is dreaming about Suits’ world domination. “You know, if there’s a Suits Miami in ten years and a Suits Hawaii in fifteen years... why not?” he said with that classic Harvey Specter mischievous grin. Why not, indeed?
How to watch Suits LA
New episodes of Suits LA premiere on NBC every Sunday at 9:00 p.m. ET, and can be streamed on Peacock the next day. Watch the pilot episode here, along with all nine seasons of the original Suits!
