Patrick J. Adams And Sarah Rafferty Look Back On "Suits" And Why They Think The Show Resonates With Fans So Much
by Nora Dominick · BuzzFeedDo you remember what your auditions were like for Mike and Donna for Suits? Did you have any chemistry reads?
Patrick J. Adams: Oh, well, we definitely did not do any chemistry reads. I didn't even do chemistry reads with Gabriel. We didn't have anything. We were cast completely separately. And I remember, I've told this story a bunch of times, but my audition was really fueled by the fact that I had been fired from a job not long prior to this audition. And so, I don't really remember the specifics, other than I just really went into the audition process for Suits like somebody who had already been through hell. I was just like, Throw it all away. Nothing can hurt me now, which I think helped me get the part. I'd been through it so badly that I was just very eager and excited to just have fun and throw caution to the wind.
Sarah Rafferty: My audition experience was, at the time, a really strange and not typical one, which was that Gabriel had given me the script and had said, "Please audition for this part." And I was in LA and the part was being cast out of New York, and they wanted somebody who was local to New York. I had just moved to LA, so I kind of pretended and made a tape. I went to a place, made a tape, and sent it in. Obviously, I knew Gabriel really well. We had met in '93. So, by the time I got to set, I hadn't met or had a conversation with anybody but him. I'm not sure if we talked about this, Patrick, but I'm not sure I knew who Aaron [Korsh, the creator] was. I didn't know who Kevin was. Like, somebody would come over and talk to me, and I'd be like, "What do you do?" I didn't know.
Do you remember when you first met each other?
PJA: You and I didn't meet until we were on set, right? Because you said you weren't at the first table read we did.
SR: Correct!
PJA: So, we would've just met the first scene we shot, which probably would have been in the pilot. The whole hotel sequence where I ended up getting the job at Pearson. So that would've been our first meeting. Like, "Hi. We're doing this scene together."
Podcasts have become a great way for actors to experience their shows in a new way, especially because they often do not watch the show as it airs. How has it been diving into Suits from Season 1?
PJA: Look, I didn't watch the show for a reason. I am not good at watching myself on camera. It is a problem. We agreed we wanted to do this thing because we thought, you know, this show is so popular, the fans love it. And I've been sort of keeping it in this box because I didn't want to interact with it, and I was too scared to watch it and all my insecurities. And I thought, Well, that's not healthy. To just take this thing that'll probably be, you know, next to my name when I die as, like, the biggest thing I've ever done, and to pretend it didn't exist or not engage with it. So after this huge outpouring of support and this renaissance of it last summer, it was like, we have to watch this show. If we're gonna watch this show, let's watch it together and engage with fans and make a thing of it.
But in the process of doing that, I was terrified, like, oh my god, I'm gonna start watching this show, and I'm gonna not want to watch the next episode, and that's gonna be problematic because we're doing a podcast. And the exact opposite has been true. It's like, I am so loving it. I'm so proud of everybody on that screen and the people behind the camera. Any thought that I would have that this would be too hard to get through or cringey, enough time has passed now where it's just like, Wow, this is really fun. And to be like, "Oh my god. I can't believe you did that thing, Sarah. That was so good." Or being able to call Gabriel and say, like, "Where did you come up with that idea?" And just seeing all of it actually play out. I'm so glad I didn't watch it because now I can have so much more gratitude and appreciation for it.
Suits obviously saw an incredible boom in viewership when it began streaming on Netflix last summer. What was it like for you both to see that happen and suddenly have a whole new group of fans enjoying the show? And what do you think fans connect with?
SR: There's no way to really metabolize the numbers of the people that have watched it, and I think that's one of the reasons why we want to do this podcast, too. So that we can actually process that and we can be those people who get to enjoy the show. I do think it tells us a lot about, like, what people are craving right now. We've talked a lot about how we're in a funny place in the world. Let's just be real right now, with our news and everything that we're consuming in that way.
So it seems like this show at this time, or at the time of last summer, really served a purpose for people, whether it was escape or it was laughter or something to connect with each other about — people were having viewing parties — that kind of thing. That is a really beautiful thing, and we feel very, very grateful that we could be a part of something like that. That means something to people in that way because escape is an important thing, right?
PJA: And I think the spirit of the show is so ultimately, like, positive, which, you know, seems like an obvious thing to say. But again, because I wasn't watching it and we were just in it, it didn't really occur to me what a lasting impression that makes on people, especially at a time when things have been hard. The world is going through so many transformations. I'm watching it and realizing how aspirational and positive, and this is really the coming together of a family, and that's what shooting it was, too.
That's how we all feel about each other, especially Sarah and I. Like, lifelong friends from this experience, and I think people are drawn to that. I think that's why people want to watch, and that's really rewarding to know that we got to be a part of something like that. And now to get to experience it for ourselves, and in the process, bring in those fans and talk to them and hear from them what they love about the show.
SR: And what's really interesting about it, too, for us, like, when you're out in the world and you meet somebody who views it. First of all, everybody has a different thing that they connect to about it, which is amazing and fascinating, and it's a very intimate experience of how we view TV now. Like, I'm old enough to be like, you know, still have conversations with my mom where she's like, "But what time is it on? And what channel?" Now, people are watching in their dorm rooms with their friends on their laptops, or you're in their living room, or you're at their dinner table. It's intimate. We have this amazing opportunity to be an intimate part of these people's lives in some way. It's amazing. Now, we're consuming it in that same way, which is so fun. It's really wonderful.
Since you're doing the podcast, has it been hard not being able to just binge-watch the show?
PJA: That's the hard part! We have to sort of stop and really think about what we just watched. Maybe watch it again and go back to the scenes. My TV-watching self wants to just keep going—
SR: Go to the next one.
PJA: Do three or four episodes. But because we're doing the podcast, we sort of have to be diligent about, nope, stop.
SR: And then it's really great because even just last week, we had a question, and I reached out to Aaron about it, and then Aaron answered the question, but then he talked about Dave Bartis [an executive producer]. And I was like, "Well, I'm gonna reach out to Dave Bartis and see what he has to say about the thing." So it's this great opportunity to be like, "Oh my god, I didn't know that was going on."
PJA: There are so many tangents we can go down at any moment. Just based on one episode.
Watching the Suits pilot for the first time, has it been wild to think about the trajectory your characters go on after that very first episode? Did you have any clue Mike and Rachel would be a couple or even the deep relationship between Donna and Harvey?
PJA: So funny you asked that because we were on a Zoom right before this, just catching up and saying hi, and we're both working on different shows right now, and we had this exact conversation about how it's weird to start a new thing and know, in success, it's gonna go in all these different directions that you have no idea what they are right now. And you can't plan for it, and you want to know, in a way, as an actor. I want to know where this is going, but you actually have to just go along for the ride like the character. So, no is the answer to your question. No idea where anything was gonna go. Especially in that first season for me, I was just holding on for dear life. Like, I'd never shot that many episodes of a thing in order.
Suits had a ton of memorable guest stars, starting with Season 1. Has it been exciting to get to re-experience those actors you got to work with so early on?
PJA: It's fun to watch the first season because I remember bits of it, but I remember being so nervous the whole time that a lot of it just evaporated from my head. So it's reminding me, like, Oh my god, I remember we worked with Margo Martindale. I was so nervous about screwing up a scene with Margo Martindale that I wasn't fully present for it, and now I get to watch it and see it play out. It helps with the gratitude part a lot.
SR: We get to be more present. I was telling Patrick I'm watching The Gentlemen right now, which Max Beesley's on, and I had breakfast with Max a few weeks ago, and I had the same thing. I don't even remember what season it was that all the Brits were on, and we would, like, have drinks and have dinners and stuff. But I look back on the show, I look back on Max's work now, and I have a million questions. I want to know everything. So this is an opportunity to actually do that thing because we didn't have time to be particularly present to it. I mean, as much as you would have loved to have chatted with Margo Martindale on set, as I would have, there's no time. We were in makeup, and then we had to get to a fitting, and they were wiring us, and then it's like tick tock, go, do the thing. Then, go get some rest.
PJA: The rush you experience when you shoot a television series like you're always running late. Everything is rushing and everything is just get to the end of the day and get all the scenes. So it does leave, for me, this seven-year experience of just being rushed all the time and the gift of this thing with Sarah is we get to slow it all right back down. Take our time with it, and go over it, and have a great conversation. It creates space where there was once speed.
Obviously, you know where your characters' stories go, but are there storylines you're excited to experience again? Or do you think there are plotlines you've maybe forgotten about?
PJA: When you said you know where the story goes, I'm not entirely sure that's true. I know the major highlights. I think there's a ton of stuff I don't remember happening that I'm going to be very surprised by in the show.
SR: Yeah, "surprised and tickled" should've been the name of the podcast.
PJA: Especially anything that doesn't relate to that main, main storyline of, like Mike and Rachel or whatever. Like, you know, if it's sort of a character that comes in for one episode. We had so many great actors that just came in and crushed it. That's another thing already, just in the first season, it's like, wow, we had such amazing actors just come in for one episode that you could forget because it's one episode. We shot for eight months, and that was one week or one and a half weeks of eight months.
Is there a character or actor you're excited to see pop up as you go through this watch of the series?
PJA: Wendell Pierce, who is just one of my all-time favorite actors. We're not to him yet so I am so excited for him to get on the show.
SR: Rachael Harris.
PJA: Rachael Harris, oh my god. And you just saying the Brits made me think, Oh my god, I can't wait for that whole season. Because we were so happy to have them on set. They were so fun, and they made that season such a pleasure. So I'm excited to watch that.
SR: I think there's going to be so many opportunities to do these episodes that are deep, deep dives just about these people and the breadth and depth of their careers. We're fans. We're big fans. And I love nothing more than to fangirl.
PJA: Obviously, this is a rewatch podcast or a watch podcast, and we're going through Suits, but I think an underlying theme of it is also exploring what it is to make a television show. I find it, selfishly, such a deeply interesting process that I think there are so many parts of it that people don't know or understand or relate to or maybe think they are way more glamorous than they are.
So, getting to talk to people who were a part of making this show, talk about their experience making this show, but also have been part of other shows that we can talk to and go, "What was different? What was Suits like? What was Game of Thrones like? What's your career been like? What's it like to be on a show for eight months? How do you deal with being away from home for so long?" Obviously that's not the main thrust of what we're doing here, but I think it's a part of the conversation that Sarah and I are constantly drawn to and makes for really interesting conversation.
SR: I mean, Wendell is a really great example, Patrick. I'm so glad that you brought him up. I wasn't able to go see Patrick on Broadway, which was very hard, but I did get to see Wendell in Death of a Salesman, which is such an iconic role. He redefined that role for me. I don't know how many times I've seen Death of a Salesman, but I had definitely not really seen it until I saw Wendell play that part. I would love to spend as much time talking about that, talking about his process, talking about what led him there. There's so much to talk about.
PJA: We're actually happy to announce our spinoff. All with Wendell.
*laughing* A nice new podcast. Just about Wendell. We'll all tune in.
PJA: Just Wendell. He doesn't know about it yet.
One thing that kind of sets your podcast apart from others, is you've asked fans to send in questions in the form of voice notes, which I think is so cool and sweet. How has it been getting those questions and learning what fans, who have watched this show multiple times, are thinking about?
PJA: They're so good. They're so thoughtful and because the show's been out for a while, like you said, they've watched multiple times. The questions are deeper than just your average questions if they've only seen an episode once. These are people that have really thought about the arc of these characters and about the wiring and recognized patterns in the writing and are so invested in these characters' journeys that it's so cool to now be able to really welcome them into this process and hear what they think and get their feedback and ask really challenging questions. It stimulates a lot of really important new conversations.
SR: And the questions can be incredibly generous because, as I was saying before, when you meet people and get a chance to have a conversation about it, they are sharing a lot of their life right back to you. Like, "This is where I was in my life at that time, and this is what it felt like to me," or "This is a conversation I shared with my mom after we watched this episode." That kind of sharing, that kind of generosity, is really moving. It's really, really kind and moving.
And finally, did you take anything from the Suits set when filming wrapped?
PJA: *Showing off his Mike Ross nameplate from Mike's office* That's just one thing. There are others. A lot of pictures that I took, because I'm a photographer, a hobbyist photographer as well. So, a lot of my pictures ended up being, like, the artwork on the sets. So when the show was over, I got to take a lot of those home. Big framed prints of my work.
SR: Can I have one?
PJA: For sure. I'll send you an invoice. Venmo me.
SR: I have two daughters, so I did go through some of the clothes with an eye toward like this was designed by so and so in this collection. This will be cool in 25 years. I have a redheaded daughter, and I was like, She needs this green Burberry coat. And when we filmed, they were very little. I had one of my children between Seasons 1 and 2, so they would come to fittings.
And actually, they just found this photo. Patrick, I should have screengrabbed it and sent it to you. They were each sitting in a paper bag. One was in a Dior bag, and one was in a Prada bag. And they were each seated inside those at one of my fittings, like the two of them. Then, as they got older, they would put clothes on them, and we would cinch them in the back and take photos. So I did really think a lot about the clothes. That style might not come back around, or they might not really care at all. But who knows, right? I really, really did look for the clothes.
PJA: I took some suits as well.
SR: I have Donna's couch.
No way! Really?!
SR: We can't spill all these beans, though, right now.