USA Network / Courtesy of Everett Collection
Who could have imagined? suit Without Donna?
Believe it or not, Sarah Rafferty’s character, who serves as the consummation of Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Mike’s (Patrick J. Adams) relationship and is a key component of the USA Network legal drama, wasn’t expected to be a series regular when the pilot was filmed.
“Gabriel called and said, ‘I know this incredible actress. I know we’re going to cast Donna. She won’t be a series series, but she’ll be my assistant, and I’d love for her to read the script,'” recalled Jeff Wachtel, a former president of USA Network and a key player in creating the show. suit The same goes for many of the network’s “Blue Sky” shows.
Wachtel is ATX suit In his memoir on Sunday, he said that a scene in the pilot in which Rafferty’s character, Donna, looks back and forth between Mike and Harvey as they converse was the moment he knew she would be an integral part of the show.
“She just looks from one to the other while they’re talking and you just feel a connection between them,” he said. “You feel like these are people you want to spend time with. So it’s nice to see things connect in an unexpected way.”
Lafferty, who was on the panel with Wachtel and the other cast members, also recalled her time on the pilot, telling the audience that Macht, a longtime friend, had urged her to audition for the role of Donna, but she had recently received news that another pilot she was working on had not been picked.
“I wanted Donna to be indispensable,” she said, adding that she traveled at her own expense from Los Angeles to take on the role. “I told them I live in New York. I was hired locally. So I flew in, I stayed in, I played Donna.”
Also joining the panel were Amanda Schull, Dulé Hill and Abigail Spencer, who shared behind-the-scenes stories from the production. suitOne character who wasn’t scheduled to return was Spencer’s Scotty.
“I was supposed to be in one episode,” she says, “and then Aaron called me and said, ‘I wrote this role with you in mind.’ suit It hadn’t aired yet, so I had the DVD sent to me. [casting director] Bonnie Zane said, “It hasn’t aired yet, but I think it’s a really special show, so you should check it out.” And she was right. I watched the show. Just mad menAnd I was like, “Oh my God. mad men “It’s for lawyers. I hope I can participate just once.”
In the end, the cast suit It was a lucky moment for each of the actors on the judging panel: Schull revealed that she originally auditioned for the role of Rachel Zane, but the role ultimately went to Meghan Markle.
“Then I actually approached every female guest star — and I’m not exaggerating here — I approached every female guest star for the entire first season and half of the second season,” she said, “and then I got the call that they’d written the role with me in mind.”
“I still have to audition,” she joked, but this time she got the part, and thus Katrina Bennett was born.
Hill was already part of the USA Network ecosystem, Psychojoined the show in season seven and says he was a fan suit It was that way from the start, and lead actress Adams admits that the role came along at a time when she was feeling uncertain about the future of her Hollywood career.
“I’d just gotten fired from a pilot… I was pretty sure I was done in the industry and nobody wanted anything to do with me, so in the process of getting this job, I read the script and I was like, ‘This guy’s got it.’ All of the lines were from that famous scene with Harvey, and this guy was at rock bottom. He didn’t have any options left, and he basically says, ‘If you give me this job, I’ll work harder than anybody out there,'” he said. “That’s all I had to say in the audition. That’s how I felt. I’d just gotten fired from a pilot. I’d been a professional guest star for like 10 years, been in a bunch of failed pilots, and I’d just recently been fired… I just walked in a room and said those words: If you give me this job, I’ll literally work harder than every actor in the hallway waiting to get this job. And it felt like the most honest I’ve ever been.”
According to Adams, the process was a bit tense because he and Macht didn’t do any chemistry reads before either of them were cast, and when they first met, they went to lunch together before filming to get to know each other.
“It wasn’t a fun lunch. I just ate and hoped the person I was talking to wasn’t a complete jerk,” he joked.
Throughout the panel, cast members and audience members watched several clips from the series, including one in which Harvey visits Mike’s apartment and they smoke marijuana together.
Looking back on the scene, Adams said, “It reminded me of how much fun I had messing around with Gabriel, because he’s such a goof… I didn’t get to show that side of Gabriel much in the role. There was a scene where we were just messing around and having fun, like we were in real life off screen, and then I got drunk with Pearson Hardman. So I had to do that, but on set it was the most fun in the world.”
Macht and Adams recently reunited for a T-Mobile Super Bowl ad, thanks to the show’s renewed buzz since it debuted on Netflix last year, and Adams says it took the pair “three seconds” to get back into the Harvey and Mike vibe.
“We couldn’t not do it even if we tried. I actually think it’s difficult for Gabriel and I as people together because we fall into that rhythm. It doesn’t make sense for us as individuals, but it’s part of who we are,” he said, adding that the TV spot was “pretty improvised,” calling it “what an incredible gift to get to come together again and do that.”
Macht did not participate in Sunday’s panel, but suit Fans are still holding out hope that they’ll be able to see the group thrive again in a reunion project, and in response to a fan question, Adams revealed that creator Aaron Kolsch is “interested” in a possible reunion. suit A reunion film could see much of the original cast reunited.
