Suits: LA's Stephen Amell hasn't seen Suits. Yet.

Stephen Amell tells The A.V. Club he's going to brush up on his Suits knowledge before filming the spin-off

By Saloni Gajjar | February 23, 2024 | 8:27pm

TV News Suits

Suits: LA's Stephen Amell hasn't seen Suits. Yet.

Stephen Amell Photo: Gerardo Mora/Getty Images

Approximately a gazillion people saw Suits on Netflix in 2023, but Stephen Amell wasn’t one of them. Don’t worry, he’s planning on changing this fact before filming Suits: LA, as he told The A.V. Club in an interview.

While the gazillion was a slight exaggeration, sure, the USA Network show that ended in 2019 still topped streaming charts last year by a huge margin. Inevitably, the TV powers schemed to bring it back in some form in the present day. Enter Suits: LA, a Los Angeles-set iteration which original Suits creator Aaron Korsh is helming, and will feature Arrow star Amell as the lead.

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However, the actor still hasn’t gotten around to watching the flagship series. “I don’t want to get in trouble, but I’ve never seen it. I have not seen it. I just used my instincts in the audition [for the spin-off],” he said. There’s still time to rectify that, though, and he’s planning on it. “I think I’m going to do a watch before I go and film the pilot,” Amell added.

In Suits: LA, he plays a New York former federal prosecutor named Ted Black, who built an L.A. law firm that specializes in criminal and entertainment law. However, with his company in crisis, Ted has to embrace a role he’s loathed for his entire career. At least he’s surrounded by talented attorneys as the show unravels why he left everyone he loved behind in NYC. So far, the cast also includes The Walking Dead’s Josh McDermitt.

Amell also told The A.V. Club that he’s looking forward to bringing Korsh’s script to life: “The writing on the show is really good.” Of course, he’s known for his role as Oliver Queen, a.k.a. The Green Arrow, in The CW’s Arrow, which ended in 2020 after eight seasons. He then starred in Starz’s severely underrated drama Heels for two seasons, and will next be seen alongside his cousin, Robbie Amell, in the sci-fi action film Code 8 Part II, which releases on Netflix on February 28. But with Suits: LA, he’s hoping for a different challenge.

“With something like Code 8, there’s one big diner scene where we act, speak, interact, etc. You don’t have too much of that in Arrow, there’s a bit more [dialogue-heavy] stuff in Heels. But Aaron has written an amazing pilot, so I’m just excited to say his words,” he added.

There’s no word yet on whether any of the original Suits cast will drop in on Ted Black’s firm, but never say never. The ensemble included Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Gina Torres, Sarah Rafferty, and, of course, Meghan Markle. And lest we forget, Suits already got a one-season spin-off with the Torres-led Pearson.

Thanks to its resurgence on streaming, Suits has become an unexpected TV show to turn into a freakin’ universe. At least Amell is in charge, and if nothing, the Arrowverse is proof he’s got the chops to push a franchise forward.