Here’s Why This SUITS Star Reprised His Role for Spinoff

Published: April 15, 2025

Gabriel Macht, SUITS L.A. — UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 20: Gabriel Macht attends the Los Angeles premiere of "Suits LA" at One Universal on February 20, 2025 in Universal City, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

By Mallory Mattingly

In 2019, when SUITS officially ended, Gabriel Macht never expected to lace up his dress shoes to play Harvey Specter again, but that changed when series creator Aaron Korsh asked the actor to reprise the role for SUITS L.A.

“I thought, ‘You know what? I could give something back to the fans because they’re so, so hungry for more of this character. And if I can support the show in my way and bring some eyes to it, that might be a really nice thing to pass the baton,’” Macht told The Hollywood Reporter. “They worked out a way to make it make sense for my family, and here we are.”

After SUITS ended, Macht stepped away from acting altogether so that he could spend more time with his family and help raise his two young children.

But SUITS experienced a resurgence in popularity in 2023, sparking the SUITS L.A. spinoff. Korsh asked Macht if he would return for a three-episode arc.

When it came to revisiting Harvey Specter years later, Macht needed to change the way he approached the character.

“For full transparency, my job as an actor is to cede to the vision of the showrunner and expand on the showrunner’s idea of who this character is, and collaborate with the directors and the other actors and somehow be somewhat spontaneous and make some choices, but not land on too many, and try and create the magic as we go along. That’s how I approached the character,” he explained.

“It turned out that I was nothing like the character when we started, and by the end I was too much like him in [terms of] behavioral actions,” Macht added. “There were some beats of Harvey that I think developed in ways that were not healthy for me as Gabriel, but that’s the character. I wanted to honor the character and honor his insecurities and the way he does things. In the flash-forward, in the present time, I think Harvey is way more in a space of his wise self and less of his young child who needs to make a statement and get his way. I have found that I personally am in a better space in my life emotionally — and I think Harvey is too.”

Macht told USA Today of the different stages he experience getting back into the character.

“There’s a couple different stages; one is putting the suit on,” he said. “You feel like, ‘Oh, I’m back in it.’ Another is, ‘Let me get in touch with all the stuff that I’m not crazy about myself.’ That’s pretty easy. And then the third is learning the lines. Once you sort of absorb the double negatives and all the rhythms, then you’re good to go.”

In a new post on his social media, Macht shared a video of Havey’s cufflinks and shoes.

“Follow up to getting back in the saddle. I guess I still have the fight in me…going by my cufflinks,” he wrote. “First time I’ve been #46 on the call sheet. #1, #46 what’s the difference?!?”