Suits - Gabriel Macht Q&A with Spoiler TV

Spoiler TV was invited by the USA Network to attend a Q&A with Gabriel Macht,one of the stars of their new hit show "Suits".

It was a very busy Q&A session with lots of people trying to get a chance to ask questions, unfortunately some people did not get a chance to speak to Gabriel. I was lucky enough to get to ask one question. He was a really cool guy, seems to have a real passion for his job and really loves working on Suits. He was very appreciative when talking to us when we complemented him on his work which is always nice to hear from people we watch and admire.

Below you can find a sample audio of the question I asked and the full transcript from the Q&A session. Beware there are some spoilers for the next 2 episodes with Gary Cole and Chi McBride.

Gabriel Macht Twitter: @GabrielMacht
Official Suits Twitter: @Suits_USA

Suits airs on the USA Network on Thursdays 10/9c. There are only 2 episodes left so make sure you catch them!

Twitter: @cjsonic
Email: cjsonic@spoilertv.com









*Apologies for any spelling and grammar errors, this was a quick type during the interview a few hours ago so i could get it to you all ASAP

Who are the guest stars this week and who do they play?
Gary Cole plays a district attorney from Manhattan. Harvey was used to be one of his assistants. Alicia Coppola was also one of the assistants back with me. There is some dirt that has been picked up on Gary Cole's character. He comes back to Harvey to keep it behind closed doors. I dont know how much i wanna give it away, but he buried some evidence on a character you will meet at some point. Harvey is unaware of this. He is up for re-election. Alicia is trying to stop him getting re-elected. Gary Cole is Harvey's Harvey, there is a lot of respect there for him. He loses some when he finds out when he is not above board. You will see how Harvey feels about that during the episode.

Can you tell us more about Chi McBride's character?
Chi appears in the last episode. He is the interim district attorney, not to give anything away but something happens to the current DA. Harvey wants to right a wrong that happened when Harvey was an assistant from years ago. He brings it up with Chi and is trying to clear this young fellows name. Chi is very by the book and they come up against each other. Harvey has sort of met his match again. We had a great time filming together. He is a terrific actor.

Will we see Harvey and Mike's lie fall apart this season?
I will say it is a constant threat and I think Mike's character is more uneasy with it than Harvey. The kid is to good to be true even with all his mishaps. He is not thinking clearly at times, he still is Harvey's ace in the hole and is willing to continue and keep the veil up as long as he can. I feel like harvey is confident to work his way out of it, if it falls down

Why do you think Harvey has taken on Mike and lying to keep him?
I think aside from the lines they give me, I think in many ways Mike is a representation of what Harvey was when he was a kid and he got a shot from Jessica to break out of the world he was in and given a second chance. There is a lot to say about second chances. I think he sees that Mike got in over his head and is truly a good person at heart and bright and deserves a second chance and I think thats what happened with Harvey early on. He thinks this is one of the ways he can give back, I like thinking of it like that and it gives Harvey some of the heart that people think Harvey lacks. Its gives him some of the charm, sensitivity and thinking outside of the box. Plus he needs someone to do some of his dirty work and paper work because he is a busy guy. He is tired of the Harvard grads like Lewis, he wants someone more like himself.

Are we going to see Harvey showing some more emotion?
Good question. I think so. He likes to say he doesn’t like having emotions, but he won't stop using them. Harvey is a really emotional guy and I think he has been hurt or broken and he has created this incredible armour. He stands up for people but behind their backs. His emotions come out when someone's back is turned. There was a moment when he got emotional and he catches himself when he is with Jessica. He thinks Jessica has his back, so he shows his vulnerability with her.

Are we going to see some sort of flashback or backstory of Harvey being under Jessica's wing?
I don’t know if that will happen. In the next 2 episodes you are going to see a few encounters with Harvey and Jessica. Jessica saw Harvey as Harvey sees mike. He had some street smarts and didn’t completely get it. She put him through law school and put him with the DA, she put him with Gary Cole's character. Harvey was at time a bit misinformed why he was put there. You will see how that reveals itself. I don't know if you will see flashbacks but you will see reasons why he was put there. You will see who he was in essence early on.

Who would you like to see guest star in the future?
I'd love to see my wife guest star. I'd love to see her play some strong woman who pays Harvey a lesson. There are so many great actors. Who is Pierce Hardman? I have a little bit of a wish list. We have had some terrific actors this seaosn. Hopefully there will be a whole new line of actors who watch our show and would love to be a part of it.

Harvey as a character loves his suits & Jazz etc. How much of that was in the original script and how much has changed/developed since then?
The whole thing about Harvey has been a collaboration between costume designer, writers, director of the first and last episode and myself. We all saw and created this guy together. We saw Harvey as a mans man, as a throw back to a Cary Grant to a Steve McQueen of the modern world. Tough as nails and testosterone driven. He's classic in many ways that he likes his suits fully tailored. He likes to be put together, he's about representation. He cares about what he wears. I like to think he met a girl that cared about design and she got away and she is the reason he is who he is.

The slicked back hair was my idea, I wanted to do the Cary Grant thing and I started to think I was coming across to harsh. So we have changed his hair in the 2nd half with the same effect but not as slick. Aaron Korsh (creator) knows about the jazz side about him. Harvey is a lttle flashy but contained.

How would you compare the atmosphere on set when you filmed the first episode compared to the atmosphere on the finale?
When we first started in New York we had 3 weeks to shoot the pilot. Everyone didn’t really know each other that well. There was a big belief in each other. We all admired each other and there was a trust early on. It was sort of exciting and with complicated feelings, is this gonna get picked up, are we gonna get a good run etc. When we shot the finale I think what was really cool about it was the ratings had been terrific, USA had been expressing their support and had been championing our show, and word on the street was we would get picked up. On the final episode Aaron was there and gathered everyone on set and gave everyone the news we got picked up for another 16 episodes for season 2. People were really proud of it. Every member of the crew and cast have formed this incredible ensemble that all like working with each other and have found a great rhythm.

Why do you think Suits has been welcomed so fondly by viewers and critics?
I guess there are a bunch of reasons. First off Aaron has such a clear vision of what he wanted to put out there. He in collaboration with USA and finding their rhythm which has been pretty efficient in their creativity. They have found a show that is procedural that has great witty banter and the relationships between the characters is more prevalent than the plot. They mirror each other in many ways. For people that want to solve the mystery of the week they are involved with the characters at the same time.

There is an ensemble of actors that is so unique and they all get along together and it makes it fun to work with on and off screen. The chemistry has really found its rhythm. The writing has been really solid. People like seeing good suits and strong men and women, especially the women. Its so many people working together and trying to find something worth while and a story they are trying to tell, its a miracle when something comes out and people relate to it. This is the first time I've been involved in something like this.

It has been a while since you were a regular on a TV series, what has that been like?
Its been really great. I have not wanted to do TV for many many years. Even before I did my last series. The last one I did was called "the others" that lasted 13 episodes. Steven Spielberg was involved. Because he was involved I did a cold read and managed to get the job, I didn’t really want it that much because I was doing a play I did not want to leave. It was a huge opportunity. I loved the writing and they knew they were not going to pick it up and they killed all of the characters in the end. Then i started getting into films. I always really liked the idea of changing the character and stretch as an artist and see where it will take me.

I wasnt getting some of the opportunities I wanted and there was some great writing in TV and I thought I'd go back. And Harvey was such a great character, he's such a tough ass with a heart underneath. I love the banter and heart underneath and see how this goes. I haven't got this deep inside a character in such a long long time. I admire Harvey andIi like to see his weaknesses and as we go further into him I hope we can crack the armour more. Aaron said to me characters on television move more slowly compared to film where u have 2 hours. They grow slower.

Harvey is always dressed smart and is a bit of a ladies man, very much like a British secret agent. Would you ever consider playing Bond?
Of course. Has there been an American bond? I don’t think there has been. In a six degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of way, I worked with Daniel Craig on a BBC movie a few years ago. Great guy has done terrific. I've worked with Timothy Dalton many years ago. It’s as close to Bond as I can get. 2 episodes ago I was able to do a little bit of my Connery. It was a Roger Moore line I threw out as a Connery thing, it was funny to me none the less. I'd do it in a heart beat.