How to Get Cast on ‘Suits: L.A’

Developed by “Suits” creator Aaron Korsh, “Suits: L.A.” follows Ted Black (Stephen Amell), a former federal prosecutor from New York City who reinvents himself (and his reputation) by representing powerful clients in Los Angeles. But the lawyers of Black Lane Law are put to the test, as the criminal and entertainment law firm can’t seem to separate the professional from the personal, compromising everyone’s loyalties—all while peeling back the real reason why Ted relocated to the West Coast in the first place.

“Suits: L.A.” Season 1 stars:

• Stephen Amell as Ted Black
• Bryan Greenberg as Rick Dodsen
• Josh McDermitt as Stuart Lane
• Lex Scott Davis as Erica Rollins
• Troy Winbush as Kevin
• Azita Ghanizada as Roslyn
• Rachelle Goulding as Samantha
• Nathan Witte as Garrett
• Carson A. Egan as Eddie Black
• Maggie Grace as Amanda Stevens
• Victoria Justice as Dylan Pryor
• Sofia Pernas as Elizabeth Smith
• Matt Letscher as Ted’s father
• Kevin Weisman as Lester Thompson
• Alice Lee as Leah

Macht, who starred on the original series as Harvey Specter, is also set to reprise his role on multiple episodes. However, NBC has yet to reveal if any additional “Suits” cast members will guest star on the spinoff series, such as Adams (Mike Ross), Markle (Rachel Zane), Sarah Rafferty (Donna Paulsen), Rick Hoffman (Louis Litt), and Gina Torres (Jessica Pearson).

Jeffrey Todd (“The Santa Clauses”), Stephanie Huante (“Doctor Odyssey”), and Drew Kretchmer (“Pinky”) are currently attached to Season 1 of “Suits: L.A.” Bonnie Zane and Gayle Pillsbury (“Pretty Little Liars”) previously served as the casting directors behind the original “Suits” series.

Having helped establish the cast that gained a cult following, Zane told us she’d change some of the industry’s long-held notions on the general casting process. “I’d like to see people start believing that they don’t need a celebrity to lead a show,” she said. “A name does not equal a hit. There’s plenty of proof of that. I love to discover a new person to lead a TV show, to see people find success, to become big stars, become famous. [Casting directors] are in the shadows here, and we don’t need to be thanked—although it is appreciated.” She added with a laugh, “I enjoy my own success; I’m not going to lie. But what’s wonderful about this job is the success of others.”

John Amos Credit: David Astorga/NBC

While Korsh told Entertainment Weekly that his “Suits: L.A.” scripts are some of his best writing and that the team believes they’ve cast the best actors possible, he can really only hope for the best, as the chemistry of the original cast was admittedly rare. “I have to hope that they mesh and gel onscreen, which I believe they have, but audiences will find that out. You can’t know. It was lightning in a bottle [on ‘Suits’], and I think this cast has the same makings of the same chemistry and the same skill,” he said. “Over time, hopefully we’ll get lightning in a bottle again.”

Macht and Adams have repeatedly confirmed they had chemistry right away, and they enjoyed the same success with the actors cast to play their associates-turned–love interests. Bonnie Hammer, vice chairman of NBCUniversal, told Vanity Fair, for the character of Rachel Zane, “We needed somebody in the role that was absolutely engaging, relatable, young enough, who is beautiful in a non-traditional way, and who had an authenticity.” Korsh added that casting the character was especially tricky because she required “toughness and attitude while still being likable.”

That’s where Markle came into play. “We all looked at each other [after her screen test] like, Wow, this is the one! I think it’s because Meghan has the ability to be smart and sharp but without losing her sweetness,” Korsh said. As Vanity Fair noted, Markle said she arrived in black jeans, a plum-colored spaghetti-strap top, and heels to her audition, but she picked up a cheap little black dress at H&M on her way because she thought her look might be too casual for a lawyer. As predicted, they asked her to change into the dress (which she hadn’t tried on), but it was a perfect fit—just like her.

When casting Donna Paulsen, Macht recommended Rafferty for the role, recalled Jeff Wachtel, former president of USA Network. Wachtel said, “Gabriel called and said, ‘Look, there’s this unbelievable actress that I know, and I know we’re casting Donna and she’s not a regular, but it’s the person who’s going to be my assistant. I would love you to read her.’ ” And since Rafferty had just discovered another pilot she’d filmed wasn’t getting picked up, she was eager for the opportunity.

“I wanted to make Donna indispensable,” Rafferty said, even though she lived across the country in Los Angeles at the time. “I said [to] tell them I live in New York. I’m a local hire. So I flew myself, put myself up, and played Donna.”

Abigail Spencer (Dana Scott) said of her recurring role, “I was only supposed to be in one episode. [Korsh] called me, and he was like, ‘I wrote this role with you in mind.’ It was this show called ‘Suits’ that had not aired yet. So I actually got a DVD sent to me from [casting director] Bonnie Zane and she said, ‘Just watch it. I know it hasn’t aired yet, but I think it’s really special.’ And she was right. I watched it, and I had just done a stint on ‘Mad Men,’ and I was like: Oh, my God, it’s ‘Mad Men’ for lawyers. I hope I get to be a part of it just once.”

But with the original cast’s unique chemistry in mind, the “Suits: L.A.” stars made sure to minimize their exposure to “Suits” prior to their auditions. Davis told Entertainment Weekly she “pulled inspiration from the original ladies” without becoming a “caricature of something that has already been done”; Greenberg told the outlet he only watched the “Suits” pilot before refusing to watch any more episodes. “I don’t want to do what they did—I want this to be our own show,” he said. As Korsh noted, only time will tell if they’ve managed to make lightning strike twice.

While “Suits: L.A.” received a series order upon Season 1’s official announcement, the spinoff hasn’t been renewed for Season 2 yet. So, there are no casting calls available for the series at this time. However, due to the popularity of the original legal drama, it’s likely the spinoff will run for more seasons—or maybe even get a prequel treatment. We recommend staying on top of the latest listings here. It’s also a good idea to hire an agent if you don’t already have one. 

In the meantime, you can always check out our casting roundups, which are updated weekly: 

• The Best Gigs to Kick-Start Your Acting Career
• New York casting calls
• Background casting calls
• Nationwide casting calls
• Voiceover casting calls

Stephen Amell Credit: David Astorga/NBC

Worry only about what you can control. “You have to keep going and eventually get to a spot where you only worry about the things you can control. Because I’ve walked into an audition room and I’ve [gotten] down to the final three choices, and I look at the two other guys in there, and it’s very clear we passed the point of the interpretation of the character,” Amell told Backstage. “Now we’re at the point of how they want the character to look and how they want the look of the ensemble. I look at the other guys, and they are distinctly different from me. So, just focus on what you can control, and try to keep the extraneous stuff [in] the background.”

You are always enough. “There was a casting director named April Webster who has basically [cast] everything of note from TV to film for close to two decades—think ‘Lost’ and ‘Mission Impossible.’ I had never met her before, and at my very first audition for her, she stopped me mid-scene and said so simply, ‘You need to know that you’re enough,’ ” Markle wrote for Darling. “I was breathless. No one had ever seen it, or perhaps no one had ever called me out, but there in that small box of a room in Burbank, this woman I had never met saw me.

“She saw all that self-doubt beaming through the self-tanner and excessive blush,” she continued. “ ‘You need to know that you’re enough,’ she said. ‘Less makeup, more Meghan.’ She went on to say that I was like a ‘shrinking violet,’ wilted joy and energy and exuberance behind this shroud of insecurity. You couldn’t pay for a therapy session this good. And that moment, for me, was a wake-up call.”

Make yourself available. “If you want things to happen, you have to make yourself available for [things] to happen,” Greenberg said on the “Acting Real With Kat Foster” podcast. “So if you want to write a song, you’ve got to sit down at a piano or sit down with a guitar and a journal and start playing. You gotta show up and maybe something will come out of it and maybe something won’t, but something definitely won’t if you don’t show up.”

Reject the comparison trap. “Try not to compare yourselves to other people because we’re all on our own individual journey in this life, and everybody’s journey looks different,” Justice told Oklahoma State University students. “Ultimately, I think that our lives [are] a marathon; it’s not a sprint. And success also looks different to different people. So don’t compare yourself to someone else and where they are on their journey, because your journey is beautiful, and it is unfolding perfectly for you.”

Remain open—but not too open. “Listen to the casting directors. Trust us. We know what we’re talking about,” Zane told us. “I know that there are some not-so-nice casting directors out there, but I believe it’s nice to be nice. I always try to make actors feel welcome, work with them, and suggest adjustments. But you have to listen. I just don’t understand when an actor won’t make an adjustment after being given a specific note.

“[But] don’t chat the room up. Don’t bring too much of your personal life into the audition early on in the process. At the callback, yes, you can share a little more—especially with pilots—because we’re building a family at that point,” she explained. “But it’s not necessary to turn the audition into a cleansing of the soul. Remember, you are judged by everything that happens in the room—not just the audition.”