Suits L.A. gets Arrowverse boost with Stephen Amell as lead
Stephen Amell will play a lawyer with a secret on a new series set in the Suits universe
Aux News Suits
Stephen Amell went from playing a beefy TV superhero to a beefy TV wrestler and now he’ll be a TV lawyer (possibly a beefy one?). The Arrow star has been tapped as the lead for the highly anticipated Suits spin-off, Suits L.A. As in the beloved (and recently really beloved) original series, Amell will play an attorney with a secret, although presumably his secret is not that he’s not actually a lawyer, as in O.G. Suits.
Per a synopsis from Deadline, “Suits L.A. centers on Ted Black (Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York, who has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while events from years ago slowly unravel that led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved.”
Ted is “a charismatic force of nature who puts his own needs above others” who moved to L.A. 15 years ago and built a firm specializing in criminal and entertainment law “with his old buddy, Stuart Lane.” Sounds like Stuart will be the Harvey to Ted’s Mike, or vice versa. (According to TVLine, the role of Stuart and the female lead Erica will be cast in the coming days.)
It should be noted that this isn’t a spin-off in the traditional sense (like the one-season Gina Torres spin-off Pearson) “but a brand extension in the vein of the CSI and NCIS franchises featuring new characters in a new location,” as Deadline describes it. None of the original characters are involved, but Entertainment Weekly reported that should the series continue, “a crossover could occur further down the line.”
One might look at Suits L.A. and think that it’s not actually capitalizing on the massive streaming success of Suits. If people like Suits so much, why bring back Suits with none of the original Suits? After all, the cast is enjoying a moment in the sun right now, following up presenting at the Golden Globes with big Super Bowl commercial appearances.
And while all the new (and old) Suits fans would definitely enjoy the gang getting back together, the true lesson of Suits is that people want to watch fun, light-but-still-rich character-driven dramas with lots of episodes. Creator Aaron Korsh has a proven track record for that, and so does Stephen Amell. Despite his questionable strike comments, he’s an actor who spent years on a campy CW superhero series that launched a whole franchise on his back. With those credentials in mind, Suits L.A. might have a real chance at success. Do you think they should cast David Ramsey as Stuart Lane?
15 Comments
I liked Arrow well enough and all but most of the shit I’ve heard about Amell has been pretty unpleasant – apparently just a huge jerk to work with which led to Grant Gustin’s little memey photo op over Arrow’s gravesite to the amusement of all the other actors on the show. Got into a drunken screaming match with his wife and got kicked off a plane, spoke out against the strike last year because he had a show to promote, heard some shitty stuff about the way he acts at conventions, etc. Nothing, like, illegal but he sounds like kind of a dick, I guess.
I’ve only discovered this info recently while looking into that picture, but I always thought the joke was that there was a constant throughline in the Arrowverse that The Flash was definitely and definitively doomed no matter what, and then lol, actually Oliver died to save Barry. I’m not necessarily saying your version is wrong, and I’ve heard rumors of Amell being a dick for awhile anyway, it just seems like a weird thing that everyone hates a lead actor so much that they publicly giggle over his character’s fake grave.
He was not well loved by the crew of Arrow, I can tell you that. (live in Vancouver, know a number of folks who work in film)
He strikes me as a guy who takes himself/his roles very seriously, perhaps more seriously than the material justifies. I don’t actually know this, but it would definitely justify why the crew/crews of the other generally goofier Arrowverse shows might have a chuckle at his expense.
Can confirm, he can be a dick on set. Nothing scandalous or pearl-clutch-worthy, just… really, dude? His dickishness doesn’t hold up production though, so it’s kind of a “what are you gonna’ do?”-type deal.He had a panic attack in the middle of a podcast, which has led me to wonder if he deals with other mental health problems. I’m not excusing him, but I’ve suffered from panic attacks that looked uncomfortably like the one Amell had and, separately, I’ve also had to grapple with the fact that not everyone perceives my words and actions the way I intend them. It’s taken years of self-reflection to realize that both of these things, though seemingly unrelated, come from the same place. Though again, it’s up to Amell to address those issues himself.
Re: awful to work with ala Grant Gustin – source?
Did they also sign the Salmon Ladder?
Came here for that. Thanks.
Sam and Ladder, Attorneys at Law
People on Twitter are losing their minds over this.
I’m fine with that.
Hmm…I liked Arrow (well parts of it). He played a vigilante well. Don’t know if I buy Amell can play a charasmatic force of nature like Harvey Spector. Always thought he came off as a bit awkward when he tried to play the playboy role on Arrow. Never saw Heels so maybe he showed some of that there.
Good luck finding enough actors who are perfectly fine working with a guy who tried to sabotage their strike.
Maybe they plan to hire all scabs?
At least they know they won’t get interrupted by strikes if they hire scabs.
“The true lesson of Suits is that people want to watch fun, light-but-still-rich character-driven dramas with lots of episodes”
Or, you know, princesses.