Harvey Specter in Suits

SUMMARY

  • Gabriel Macht opened up about his one mistake in Suits Season 1, which almost ruined the series for the rest of its seasons.
  • In Season 1, Macht tried to change Harvey's character, giving him a development arc too early in the show.
  • It was due to his inexperience with the slow-burn nature of the series, however, he came to be excited once he got ahold of it.

Gabriel Macht only needed his role as Harvey Specter to establish a name for himself in the industry. He played the role for nine seasons of the USA network show Suits starting in 2011. Macht recalled that when he took on the role, it was the first time since 2000 that he played a series role. He tried to bring too much character development for Harvey in Season 1 itself before realizing his mistake.

USA NetworkGabriel Macht as Harvey Specter in Suits | Credits: USA Network

Macht and his Suits show gained recent attention when it began streaming on Netflix. It may have even resulted in the greenlighting of the spinoff show, Suits: L.A., starring Arrow actor Stephen Amell. The revival of the show even brought a cult following to Macht’s other role as the masked superhero in The Spirit.

Gabriel Macht’s Mistake May Have Ruined Suits In A Big Way In Season 1

USA NetworkGabriel Macht in Suits | Credits: USA Network

Gabriel Macht appeared as the confident, charming, and high-powered attorney Harvey Specter in the legal drama Suits. The character’s confidence often appears as cocky in the show, which appealed to the viewers of the series. Interestingly, Macht almost ruined his character and the show due to his inexperience in the long format of television series.

Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar, Macht recalled how he hadn’t done a series role in a decade before he took on the Suits role. His last main role was Dr. Mark Gabriel in the NBC sci-fi series The Others, which ran for 13 episodes in 2000. He shared that he didn’t really understand the slow-burn nature of the series.

He shared that when he first appeared in the first season, he tried to change Harvey within that season. Such a rushed character development wouldn’t have flown for the series, which could potentially run for several seasons. Macht shared that he had to pull the breaks on his character, adding that his pace would’ve left his character with nothing to do after two seasons. He shared with Harper’s Bazaar:

Before I did Suits, I hadn’t done a series in a decade, and I only did 13 episodes of that show before going off to do movies. With a series, it’s slow turns and slow deepening of a character, and when I first approached it, I started to have Harvey change within the first season. I had to pull the brakes, because if you do it that quickly then you have nowhere to go after the first two seasons.

Macht shared that the slow burn was a “learning curve” for him. However, once he got ahold of it, he became really excited to play the challenging character. He loved the possibility that he could deepen the character much more than in a film.

Gabriel Macht Shared About How The Show Went From Aspirational To Realistic

Sarah Rafferty and Gabriel Macht in SuitsSarah Rafferty and Gabriel Macht in Suits | Credits: USA Network

Gabriel Macht came to love the slow burn aspect of things, but he admitted that the show was aspirational at first and turned somewhat realistic only towards later seasons. He shared that Harvey and Mike, from the first few seasons, didn’t really look like the average lawyers. They always won cases, which made the series super-aspirational at first.

In the fifth season, Harvey’s vulnerabilities began showing up, like his anxiety attacks. In season six, Mike goes to jail for his actions. Macht felt that these were the moments that turned the series towards a more realistic tone. He shared with Harper’s Bazaar:

The show bounces between aspirational and realistic, and at the beginning it was super-aspirational, I feel. These lawyers didn’t really look like the average lawyer, they were always winning cases, and it was just too good to be true. It was so much escapism—these guys were like superhero lawyers.

And then in Season 5, where we started to deal with Harvey’s anxiety attacks, that’s where we started to go towards more of a realistic tone. With Mike going to jail in Season 6, too, it’s becoming more realistic as we’ve gone along.

While Gina Torres‘ spinoff political drama Pearson didn’t make much impact, Suits is coming up with another spinoff show, Suits: L.A. Macht hasn’t acted since Suits ended in 2019, though he and the cast surprised fans with an appearance at the 2024 Golden Globes.

Suits is now available for streaming on Netflix and Peacock.

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Written by Hashim Asraff

Articles Published: 1869

Hashim, Entertainment Writer. With over 1500 published articles on FandomWire, he covers a wide range of topics from celebrity life to comic book movies. He holds a Masters degree in Sociology and his expertise proves invaluable in handling sensitive news. His passion for crime investigation thrillers has turned him into a detective, exploring the darkest corners of the internet during his research.