DEADLINE: Will you be adding a new prominent cast member to fill the void left by Gina’s departure?
KORSH: As of right now, no. I think that would evolve over time, and we would see how it goes. We’ve been pretty successful over the years, not necessarily adding series regulars, but just bringing a long-term recurring character. In my opinion, it’s sort of like as life goes, you have people that come in and out of your life.
So, I think as of right now, we’re not hiring an individual to be a series regular and be in every episode to replace her. We’re dealing with what we have, and some of it has to do with, as shows get older, I’m learning this as a new to a long lasting series, you start to have maybe some budgetary pressures over time, as people’s salaries go up. So sometimes losing a series regular, if you’re going to replace them with another series regular, that will put added pressure on your budget. Whereas, if you just say all right, let’s try to bring in some recurring people, maybe that will alleviate some of the burdens on the budget moving forward.
KORSH: As of right now, no. I think that would evolve over time, and we would see how it goes. We’ve been pretty successful over the years, not necessarily adding series regulars, but just bringing a long-term recurring character. In my opinion, it’s sort of like as life goes, you have people that come in and out of your life.
So, I think as of right now, we’re not hiring an individual to be a series regular and be in every episode to replace her. We’re dealing with what we have, and some of it has to do with, as shows get older, I’m learning this as a new to a long lasting series, you start to have maybe some budgetary pressures over time, as people’s salaries go up. So sometimes losing a series regular, if you’re going to replace them with another series regular, that will put added pressure on your budget. Whereas, if you just say all right, let’s try to bring in some recurring people, maybe that will alleviate some of the burdens on the budget moving forward.
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When did you first learn Jessica would be written out of the show midway through season 6?
GINA TORRES: This has been something that Aaron [Korsh] and I have kind of been talking about and banting about for awhile. It’s absolutely a mutual thing. Well, he wasn’t that happy about it [Laughs], ‘cause we all love Jessica, but he’s been awesome, as has been USA, about letting me come home for awhile and tend to my life. So, it was really about what’s the best way to do this for the show. Certainly, it took a lot of different forms, but ultimately, I think we needed to keep it as open ended as possible because we love Jessica and we can’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. So, I think when viewers actually see this, they’ll feel sad — I hope — and maybe a little bit untethered, as will Harvey, but hopeful.
How did you decide this was the right time to leave the show? Did you feel Jessica’s story had run its course?
The show shoots in Toronto and I make my home in Los Angeles, and my family is in Los Angeles. So six seasons, it’s a huge blessing and it’s amazing and I don’t think anybody ever thought, “Wow, we’re going to get six seasons out of this big fat secret.” Without being too cryptic, I keep my private life private, but having said that, it’s a difficult thing to do to balance all of that and being so far away. So, it was with a heavy heart, which is why we talked about how we should do this for a good long time.
Also from the perspective of the show, I think, and I really truly believe [this], that the one thing that was, for me, missing in Jessica’s arc and her evolution on the show [was] really delving into what moves her, what drives her, why she is who she is, and how she got there. What’s really wonderful about how we’ve gotten to this place is that she came to the realization that it wasn’t enough and she’s gotta go find her bliss. She’s at the point in her life where she really has to go find her bliss, and as terrifying as that is and as incomprehensible as that might be to some people who see her being so good at this and having everything, it doesn’t matter if your heart is not happy and you’re not really fulfilling that thing that you set out to do. I think that’s such an important message to send out there, not just to women but to men and everyone who’s out there busting their butt day in and day out and ask themselves that question.
What was it like keeping your exit a secret for the past few months?
Not easy. I don’t know if it’s that I’m more aware of it now than I have been for the last however many seasons, but it’s really quite something when fans come up to you and tell you how much they love the show and me in it and how I’m their favorite character and “You keep doing what you’re doing,” and “I’m watching for you.” I’m like, “Oh god! Oh no…Yay, thank you…Keep watching!” There’s that part of me not wanting to betray our fanbase. I don’t want to sideswipe all of those wonderful people who are so invested in the show and in Jessica and in what she means to people, but, like I said before, I’m hoping that the greater message is just as important, that the takeaway is just as important and significant as the person that she’s been all these seasons.
GINA TORRES: This has been something that Aaron [Korsh] and I have kind of been talking about and banting about for awhile. It’s absolutely a mutual thing. Well, he wasn’t that happy about it [Laughs], ‘cause we all love Jessica, but he’s been awesome, as has been USA, about letting me come home for awhile and tend to my life. So, it was really about what’s the best way to do this for the show. Certainly, it took a lot of different forms, but ultimately, I think we needed to keep it as open ended as possible because we love Jessica and we can’t stand the thought of never seeing her again. So, I think when viewers actually see this, they’ll feel sad — I hope — and maybe a little bit untethered, as will Harvey, but hopeful.
How did you decide this was the right time to leave the show? Did you feel Jessica’s story had run its course?
The show shoots in Toronto and I make my home in Los Angeles, and my family is in Los Angeles. So six seasons, it’s a huge blessing and it’s amazing and I don’t think anybody ever thought, “Wow, we’re going to get six seasons out of this big fat secret.” Without being too cryptic, I keep my private life private, but having said that, it’s a difficult thing to do to balance all of that and being so far away. So, it was with a heavy heart, which is why we talked about how we should do this for a good long time.
Also from the perspective of the show, I think, and I really truly believe [this], that the one thing that was, for me, missing in Jessica’s arc and her evolution on the show [was] really delving into what moves her, what drives her, why she is who she is, and how she got there. What’s really wonderful about how we’ve gotten to this place is that she came to the realization that it wasn’t enough and she’s gotta go find her bliss. She’s at the point in her life where she really has to go find her bliss, and as terrifying as that is and as incomprehensible as that might be to some people who see her being so good at this and having everything, it doesn’t matter if your heart is not happy and you’re not really fulfilling that thing that you set out to do. I think that’s such an important message to send out there, not just to women but to men and everyone who’s out there busting their butt day in and day out and ask themselves that question.
What was it like keeping your exit a secret for the past few months?
Not easy. I don’t know if it’s that I’m more aware of it now than I have been for the last however many seasons, but it’s really quite something when fans come up to you and tell you how much they love the show and me in it and how I’m their favorite character and “You keep doing what you’re doing,” and “I’m watching for you.” I’m like, “Oh god! Oh no…Yay, thank you…Keep watching!” There’s that part of me not wanting to betray our fanbase. I don’t want to sideswipe all of those wonderful people who are so invested in the show and in Jessica and in what she means to people, but, like I said before, I’m hoping that the greater message is just as important, that the takeaway is just as important and significant as the person that she’s been all these seasons.
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TVLINE | Why say goodbye to Jessica now?
Gina, towards the beginning of Season 5, had come to me and expressed a desire to be back in Los Angeles for personal reasons. We’re a family, on-screen and off, and when somebody needs something like that, we try to do our best to make it happen. So we discussed a little bit of a long-term game plan to allow her to move back there year-round and to have a better life. That’s what drove it. There was no creative [directive like], “We’ve got to get rid of Jessica.” I would have her on the show forever, and she had expressed to me that if the show was shot in Los Angeles, she would have stayed on it as long as it went.
TVLINE | How will the rest of the characters in the firm handle her departure?
Obviously, she’s such a titanic figure within the firm, and in both Harvey and Louis’ life. But she’s more of a mother/mentor figure to [Harvey] than to Louis. So it’s really going to affect him. There’s a power vacuum. They’re going to have to figure out how to deal with it. What we’re trying to do is have them react in some ways exactly as you would expect them to react, and in other ways surprise you a little bit.
Gina, towards the beginning of Season 5, had come to me and expressed a desire to be back in Los Angeles for personal reasons. We’re a family, on-screen and off, and when somebody needs something like that, we try to do our best to make it happen. So we discussed a little bit of a long-term game plan to allow her to move back there year-round and to have a better life. That’s what drove it. There was no creative [directive like], “We’ve got to get rid of Jessica.” I would have her on the show forever, and she had expressed to me that if the show was shot in Los Angeles, she would have stayed on it as long as it went.
TVLINE | How will the rest of the characters in the firm handle her departure?
Obviously, she’s such a titanic figure within the firm, and in both Harvey and Louis’ life. But she’s more of a mother/mentor figure to [Harvey] than to Louis. So it’s really going to affect him. There’s a power vacuum. They’re going to have to figure out how to deal with it. What we’re trying to do is have them react in some ways exactly as you would expect them to react, and in other ways surprise you a little bit.
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Where does this leave the show when it returns for the back half?
We’re picking up right where we usually do, where we left off. Had we gone with that other ending we would have picked up years later; it would have been too devastating not to. But as it is now, all of these characters have a lot going on. Mike has to figure out what he’s going to do. Harvey, Louis and the firm have to figure out what they’re going to do logistically and who’s going to run the place. In addition to that, what are they going to do when the woman who has kept them from sort of killing each other all these years leaves? The last six is about that — to some degree it’s about people figuring out what they’re going to do in this time of change and uncertainly. Then hopefully at the end of it, we land on something that gives us somewhat of a paradigm for moving forward for next season.
What does Harvey and Louis' relationship look like without Jessica as a buffer, and are you looking for anyone to replace that kind of figurehead?
We aren’t really thinking in terms of casting someone to replace that figurehead at the moment, but there’s no doubt she was a buffer. They’re sort of forced to self-buffer. Metaphorically speaking, it’s like what do you do when you leave your parents’ house? Each of them, over the course of the next few episodes, behaves as you would expect them to behave, but also not as you would expect them to behave. They’re going to have to figure it out, and hopefully they can.
At this point, there are two engaged couples. Is a wedding in store?
There could be, but we haven’t gotten that far yet. I don’t have a preference on who yet. ... We’re writing them one at a time, even though we have a rough road map. There are other things that are more pressing right now, whereas something like a wedding gets figured out more naturally and falls in place. We have to see what we have room for and what we can do.
We’re picking up right where we usually do, where we left off. Had we gone with that other ending we would have picked up years later; it would have been too devastating not to. But as it is now, all of these characters have a lot going on. Mike has to figure out what he’s going to do. Harvey, Louis and the firm have to figure out what they’re going to do logistically and who’s going to run the place. In addition to that, what are they going to do when the woman who has kept them from sort of killing each other all these years leaves? The last six is about that — to some degree it’s about people figuring out what they’re going to do in this time of change and uncertainly. Then hopefully at the end of it, we land on something that gives us somewhat of a paradigm for moving forward for next season.
What does Harvey and Louis' relationship look like without Jessica as a buffer, and are you looking for anyone to replace that kind of figurehead?
We aren’t really thinking in terms of casting someone to replace that figurehead at the moment, but there’s no doubt she was a buffer. They’re sort of forced to self-buffer. Metaphorically speaking, it’s like what do you do when you leave your parents’ house? Each of them, over the course of the next few episodes, behaves as you would expect them to behave, but also not as you would expect them to behave. They’re going to have to figure it out, and hopefully they can.
At this point, there are two engaged couples. Is a wedding in store?
There could be, but we haven’t gotten that far yet. I don’t have a preference on who yet. ... We’re writing them one at a time, even though we have a rough road map. There are other things that are more pressing right now, whereas something like a wedding gets figured out more naturally and falls in place. We have to see what we have room for and what we can do.
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