Gabriel Macht Says Goodbye to ‘Suits’: ‘It Has Been Such a Blessing’
Q&A
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Suits series finale, “One Last Con.”]
Suits just buttoned up its series finale and after nine seasons, fans may have gotten the happiest of endings possible.
Not only did the gang basically drop a house of Faye (Denise Crosby), Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Donna (Sarah Rafferty) exchanged vows after Louis (Rick Hoffman) had to vacate his own nups when new bride Sheila (Rachael Harris) went into labor; and Katrina (Amanda Schull) became a name partner alongside Sam (Katherine Heigl), Alex (Dule Hill) and Louis.
But the biggest development was Harvey’s decision to leave the firm and head to Seattle with Donna to work with Mike (Patrick J. Adams) again. Butch and Sundance reunited, Donna gets a whole new city to dominate, drinks were clinked… and fade to black.
As much as we will miss this crew and the show’s insanely sharp writing, it’s nice to know that everyone is in a good place to move forward. Which is exactly what star Gabriel Macht plans to do. When we were on set earlier this year for the show’s cover story, Macht told me that he planned to travel the world for about a year with wife Jacinda Barrett (Poseidon) and kids once the show wrapped. But because he is also awesome, he took some time to talk today about the series finale and how he feels Harvey did.
So, have you started the world tour?
Gabriel Macht: I have! I am currently in the highlands of some other country that is not on our continent. [Laughs]
Good for you. How does it feel to be done?
You know, it feels amazing. I look back and we, all of us, our crew, the writers, all the directors, all the designers, everyone, our actors, we put so much of our heart and soul…we worked tirelessly for nine years. We invested so much of lives and as great as an experience it has been—it has been such a blessing for so many of us, including our fans who went on this journey with us—I have a real sense of freedom having now finished it. And I’m happy. I feel I’ve put some creative good into the world and now I want to put some creative heart, more focus and energy into [being with] my wife and my family. And explore some other interests that I might have. You know, I think when you’re in Harvey’s head for so long, you sort of split in some ways. And so I’m looking forward to being in Gabriel’s mind.
Sarah Rafferty as Donna Paulsen, Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter (Shane Mahood/USA Network)
This sounds very similar to the thinking behind Harvey’s decision to go to Seattle. That you are ready to do some new good.
Yes. I think that worlds collide. As much as I felt that Harvey and I were so vastly different from each other and we are in so many ways, there’s a lot of similarities and I think in the last few years he’s really come to understand that vulnerability is not weakness. It is strength. And intentional dialogue is a way more healthy for himself and those around him. I think he’s always been the guy who wants to do good, he just does it in alternative ways.
But with the culmination of all of this, you know, him falling on the sword and finally taking one for his own team after everybody else had sacrificed their careers for him, I think it’s really the right decision for him to link arms back up with Mike and work for the everyman. I think, again, he’s always really done what’s right. But now he wants to do it for the people that really need it. Not the 1 percent. [Laughs]
What did you think when you read the final pages of the script? The whole episode feels like a love letter to everyone on the canvas and the viewers.
It really is, that’s right. That’s a great way of putting it. It’s like a Valentine to the people that worked on the show, to the characters and to the fans. Aaron [Korsh, showrunner] really did that for the fans, which was an honorable thing. For the Darvey fans that are out there, he definitely gave them what they wanted and for the Marvey fans, you know, us working together again? He gave them what they wanted. And I thought it was great.
But I don’t really spend that much time wondering where stories should go or even pitching ideas of what Harvey should do and how, or where he should go. I just try and take what the writers write and support their vision.
(Christos Kalohoridis/USA Network)
And that makes you a director and producers dream.
Well, it’s just that there’s only so much time in the day. And when you have a certain expectation or you have a certain desire and you’re like, “Hey, I think he should go become a politician,” you know, it’s not your show. Yeah it’s partly my show, but it’s not my show. I lived to honestly just not waste my time with it and just let those guys write what they were going to write and hopefully it lands. When I decide to become a showrunner, which will never happen, I’ll do that. [Laughs]
If Pearson gets picked up, can they convince you to at least appear next season?
I hope it’s picked up. But I really don’t have the answer for that. I know that I need to take some time off and I know I need to invest my energy and my focus and my creativity elsewhere from Suits. So if you see me back there, I will have had a change of mind or decided, “Yeah, it’s time to, you put the suit back on and let’s see what happens!” But I’ve spent a long time playing this guy and I think we did right by him, so maybe it’s time to move on.
Well, I want to congratulate you on a phenomenal run. And I really do love the fact that this character that we have been with for so long wound up where he did. It’s almost like viewers get to say “We’re proud of Harvey.”
I appreciate that. And I really do see that he did make a lot of turns for the good. He could be a real asshole at times, but I think his heart was always in the right place and he worked for the greater good and it shows in his decision to move forward with Mike. He was a wonderful character to play and Aaron took his time creating that [emotional] arc.
Early, early on—and I don’t know if I ever told you this story—but Aaron had to really put the brakes on me. I was trying to make Harvey change quicker. He called me like four or five episodes in and he’s like, “Hey man, you’re showing me too much! We got to hold off on that.” I was used to when you make a movie, you have three months, right? Beginning, middle and an end. And he goes “No, TV goes so much slower.” So I had to slow that all right down, but it made sense.
If you look at the first three seasons as the beginning and the middle three seasons are the middle, these last three seasons were the end. There’s your arc. So I thought we all did a really, really good job of creating this character that people could be proud of. And I thank you for saying that. I appreciate it.
