The eighth season of the American legal drama '' Suits'' was ordered on January 30, 2018, and began airing on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

in the United States July 18, 2018. The season is the first in the show's history to see extensive cast changes with the departures of

Patrick J. Adams Patrick Johannes Adams (born August 27, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Mike Ross, a college dropout turned unlicensed lawyer in USA Network's series '' Suits''. For his role in ''Suits'', Adams was nominated for Outstanding ...

and

Meghan Markle Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle; August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family and former actress. She is the wife of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of King Charles III. Meghan was ...

at the conclusion of the previous season. Following their departures, three actors have been promoted to series regulars: previously recurring guest star

Amanda Schull Amanda Schull is an American actress and former professional ballet dancer. She is known for her lead role in the 2000 film '' Center Stage'', and for her recurring roles on the American television series ''One Tree Hill'' and ''Pretty Little Li ...

as Katrina Bennett, recurring special guest star

Dulé Hill Karim Dulé Hill (; born May 3, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as personal presidential aide and Deputy Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff Charlie Young on the NBC drama television series ''The West Wing'', for whi ...

as Alex Williams, and

Katherine Heigl Katherine Marie Heigl ( ; born November 24, 1978) is an American actress and former fashion model. She played Dr. Izzie Stevens on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2010, a role tha ...

as Samantha Wheeler, who is introduced in the season premiere. The back half of the season premiered on January 23, 2019.

Cast

Regular cast

Gabriel Macht Gabriel Swann Macht (born January 22, 1972) is an American actor and film producer, known for portraying Harvey Specter in the USA Network series '' Suits'' (2011–2019) and the title character in the 2008 superhero film ''The Spirit''. Earl ...

Harvey Specter '' Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his recently hired associ ...

Rick Hoffman Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

Louis Litt '' Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his recently hired associ ...

Sarah Rafferty Sarah Gray Rafferty (born December 6, 1972) is an American actress, widely known for her role as Donna Paulsen on the USA Network legal drama '' Suits''. Early life and education Rafferty grew up as the youngest of four daughters in the Rivers ...

Donna Paulsen ''Suits (U.S. TV series), Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his ...

Katrina Bennett ''Suits (U.S. TV series), Suits'' is an American legal drama, created by Aaron Korsh. It premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his ...

as Alex Williams *

as Samantha Wheeler

Special Guest Cast

David Costabile David Costabile (; born January 9, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for his television work, having appeared in supporting roles in several television series such as '' Billions'', ''Breaking Bad'', ''Damages'', ''Flight of the Conch ...

as Daniel Hardman

Recurring cast

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

as Robert Zane *

Rachael Harris Rachael Elaine Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her numerous acting roles, such as starring as Dr. Linda Martin in ''Lucifer'', her role in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series, and as a gu ...

as Sheila Sazs *

Aloma Wright Aloma Wright (born March 10, 1950) is an American actress, widely known for her roles as Laverne Roberts on the NBC/ABC comedy series '' Scrubs'' (2001–2009), Maxine Landis on the NBC daytime drama series ''Days of Our Lives'' (2008–2 ...

as Gretchen Bodinski * Ray Proscia as Dr. Stan Lipschitz *

Jake Epstein Jacob Lee Epstein (born January 16, 1987) is a Canadian actor and singer. He played Craig Manning, a musician with bipolar disorder, on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. He also played Will in the First National Tour of '' American Idiot'', an ...

as Brian Altman

Guest cast

Abigail Spencer Abigail Leigh Spencer (born August 4, 1981) is an American actress. She began her career playing Rebecca Tyree on the ABC daytime television soap opera ''All My Children'' (1999–2001) before going on to star in the Lifetime crime drama series, ...

as Dana Scott *

Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American television, film and voice actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. On television, he has had starring roles in the T ...

as Cameron Dennis *

Jeffrey Nordling Jeffrey Richard Nordling (born March 11, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Manning in ''Once and Again'', Larry Moss in '' 24'', Nick Bolen in ''Desperate Housewives'', and Gordon Klein in '' Big Little Lies'', as wel ...

as Eric Kaldor *

Usman Ally Usman Ally (born August 27, 1982) is a Swazi-born Pakistani-American film, stage and television actor. Marking his acting debut in 2008, Ally won an Obie Award in 2015 for his role in ''The Invisible Hand''. He has appeared in several stage pro ...

as Andrew Malik *

Neal McDonough Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn Compton, Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers'' (2001), Deputy District Attorney ...

as Sean Cahill *

Sasha Roiz Sasha Roiz ( he, סשה רויז; born October 21, 1973) is an Israeli-born Canadian actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Sam Adama in the science-fiction TV series ''Caprica'' and Captain Sean Renard in the American fantasy TV series ' ...

as Thomas Kessler * Ian Reed Kesler as Stu Buzzini

Episodes

Production

Development

On May 25, 2018, Entertainment Weekly released an interview with

in which she described her character Samantha Wheeler as a "fierce and enigmatic lawyer who muscles her way into hecentral law firm, Zane Specter Litt." She also teased an antagonistic relationship between Samantha and the main protagonist Harvey Specter and an "uneasy dynamic" with Donna. The article included several exclusive first-look images from the season premiere and Heigl's character. Series creator

Aaron Korsh Aaron Thomas Korsh (born November 7, 1966) is an American television producer, writer, and former investment banker. Previously he wrote for ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''Just Shoot Me!'', '' Love, Inc.'', ''Notes from the Underbelly, The Deep ...

confirmed that

won't be returning for any guest appearances in the first ten episodes of the season. However, he did state that he and Adams had discussed it and are both open to the possibility somewhere in the future. At the same time, he confirmed that

Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in t ...

won't guest star on the eighth season nor will there be crossover episodes in order to establish the world from the Chicago-based spin-off series ''

Pearson Pearson may refer to: Organizations Education *Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada *Pearson College (UK), London, owned by Pearson PLC *Lester B. Pearson High School (disambiguation) Companies *Pearson PLC, a UK-based int ...

'' as separate from ''Suits'' itself.

Ratings

References

External links

* * {{Suits 08 2018 American television seasons 2019 American television seasons