From creator Aaron Korsh, the USA Network drama series Suits, now in its eighth season, is figuring out what’s next for the fast-paced Manhattan corporate law firm that’s being led by Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman) and Robert Zane (Wendell Pierce), now that three of its key players with Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) and Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle) have moved on. While figuring out what all of the leadership and personal turmoil means, the trio will continue to tackle top corporate cases with the support of Alex Williams (Dulé Hill) and Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull), along with new powerhouse attorney Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl), who is shaking things up in a way that’s throwing even Harvey off-balance.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actor Gabriel Macht talked about their new beginning, eight seasons in, what it was like to return without Patrick J. Adams alongside him, his hope that Mike Ross will appear again, at some point, the evolution to becoming Zane Specter Litt, what Katherine Heigl is bringing to the show, the challenges that come with directing episodes, where things are at for Harvey and Donna (Sarah Rafferty), and why he thinks this show could go on, whether the actors stay with it or not.

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Image via USA Network

Collider: Thank you for chatting with me! I’m very happy to say that I loved the first two episodes for the new season!

GABRIEL MACHT: Oh, that’s awesome! That’s great! I haven’t seen them, so I don’t know how they came out.

As a fan of the show, I was a little bit nervous about some of your main cast departing, but I think you guys have done a really interesting thing with the series. I’m excited to see what happens!

MACHT: Oh, great! That’s terrific! I hope all the fans will settle into it like you have. There’s a lot of great stuff. The energy we’ve got now from Katherine [Heigl] and Dulé [Hill] and Amanda [Schull]. Obviously, Amanda and Dulé and Wendell [Pierce] have been with the show for a little bit longer, but having Katherine come on, it’s actually been nothing but a joy for all of us on set. She’s been completely professional and super supportive of the show, and she’s been insightful, playful and spontaneous. She’s just fitting right in. It’s been great!

That’s really cool! Eight seasons into a TV series, could you ever have imagined that you’d be calling it “a new beginning”?

MACHT: No, not at all. What I realized, after last season and this new beginning, is that people far and wide are relating to all of the characters, their growth and development, how we all see ourselves and each other and the mistakes that we make, and the way that we either try or actually actualize redeeming ourselves. It’s become this show where, over eight years, how could you possible repeat the same themes and still be engaged? For some reason, the chemistry of the writing team, the directors, the production, the actors, the designers and the crew, have been able to actualize all of that. I see that this workplace family as the story can just continue on and on and on and on. It feels like there’s no reason that it needs to stop. It’s a world that we all settle into, and then it just takes off. We just go with it.

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Image via USA Network

What was it like for you, personally, the first day back, after having these people who had been there from the beginning of the show, not there anymore, especially with Patrick J. Adams being gone?

MACHT: It was really hard. Honestly, it was really, really tough. There was a massive void, by not having Patrick and Megan around. He and I made a deal with each other, early on, to create this place where we would challenge each other – and not only each other, but Aaron [Korsh] and the writing team – and try to create believable stories that were both funny and dramatic, and know that we were there, each day, to do that. We made that deal, sitting down for lunch, before we even started shooting the pilot. So, coming back and knowing that he wasn’t there, that was a little scary for me and it was a little depressing, honestly. He was my partner in crime, and I thought we would finish together. Aside from the fact that Patrick was ready to go and move on to bigger and better things, personally, it was a little shocking for me to come back and not have that energy.

Now, his spirit is within our set. There are pictures of him around the offices and there were storylines brought back, in for the first few episodes, where we talk about him and we talk about how Harvey misses him. In addition to all of that, I wrote him texts the first few days and I was like, “Dude, it’s different. I feel that you’re not here is not okay.” And he wrote back saying, “I can’t possibly imagine what it would be like, if I was there and you weren’t, so I’m here for you. I get it. Anything you need, I’m a phone call away and I’m right there with you. I miss you guys.” He’s been supportive throughout and said, “Hey, I’ve seen some of the teasers. They’re looking good.” So, he’s still very much a part of the Suits family. I hope he comes back, at some point. It’s be great to have him back. Whenever he wants to come back, I’d love to have him. It was tough to begin with, and then things settled and we got back into a rhythm. We have these new energies on board and it’s been really delightful, working with these people. I think people are going to love the show still.

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Image via USA Network

After the long journey that Harvey has been on, what’s it like for him at work now? How does he feel about the firm becoming Zane Specter Litt, and can Robert Zane and Harvey Specter bond over this mutual loss they have now?

MACHT: Yeah. They have a big history with each other, and I think Harvey has a large respect for Zane, with his experience and his history of managing a firm, prior to this. He also knows that he’s not really the managerial type, as much as he wants the control of it all. He likes to live large and be that journeyman who’s able to take as many risks as possible. I think he feels better about this position of getting back into the number two, but I think there are going to be times where he forgets he’s number two and not number one, which will create drama and some nice moments. I think he’s excited to be in this spot.

I love how Katherine Heigl’s character, Samantha Wheeler, is very much her own woman with her own agenda. She’s proving to be somebody that Harvey can’t really sway. What’s it like for Harvey to have her as a sparring partner?

MACHT: Katherine has been great. She understands the rhythm and syntax of the show, and I love that she’s super strong and sarcastic and assertive. It’s almost like Harvey has met his match. He gets extremely frustrated with her and he wants to put her in her place, but she’s a strong woman and she basically doesn’t take no for an answer. She does have some motivations going on that he’s not aware of, so what I love about it is that it keep him on his toes. That doesn’t mean he’s going to hold back because he just doesn’t do that. He’s not that guy. I think he also sees that, when she follows through on something that he may not have thought of and that was the right choice, she gains respect. It’s going to be interesting to see how their relationship develops, over the episodes. Right now, I think it’s a bit rocky. Later on in the season, we’ll see it smooth out, and then become rocky again.

You’ve also been directing episodes on the show. What are the biggest challenges that came with directing this latest episode and how do you feel that you’ve grown, as a director, working on the show?

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Image via USA Network

MACHT: I directed two episodes in prior seasons, and this is my third episode that I’ve directed. I think one of the greatest challenges is when you are in a position of way more control, there’s also a lot on the line that you can fail at. My first time directing, I was like, “Oh, I’ve got all this control. I’m just going to do exactly what I want.” In directing television, it’s still a collaborative medium. You really do need to service the writing and service what the show has always been. I’ve tried to elbow in a little bit more of what I needed the show to be, the first time that I directed. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it. I really liked some of the choices that I made. It was a very dark episode, my first time around. This time around, I had some great opportunities of moving into locations that we haven’t seen before, and also taking the locations that we’ve seen a million times and creating something new with it. What I found challenging, this time around, was just to feel like I need to have full control. I really delineated and allowed other people to show up and collaborate and said, “Hey, if this isn’t going to work, who’s got the best idea here? This is my vision. How can we get that vision?” And if someone said, “You know what? I think you can get that vision by doing this,” I was not holding on too tightly to that idea, and I would let go a little bit, even if it was something new that would make it better. I’ve found that that’s what I learned, throughout this process. If you give some power to some of the other people that have just as much, if not more, experience than you, you can all lift your game. I’m hoping that this comes out in this episode.

Is seems like such an interesting experience to have to direct yourself and gauge your own performance, at the same time that you’re directing your co-stars.

MACHT: Well, I really, truly believe that most actors know when they’re on and when they’re off. To protect myself from being one of those people that thinks they’re on when they’re nowhere near it, I’ve asked the directing producer on set and one of our writers to be there for me and look over my performance. I trust them. When I’ve been acting, I’ll come back and say, “You guys got any notes for me?” And if they say no, then I’m good. If for some reason the performance isn’t there in the edit, I’ll knock some doors and ask, “Where were you? I asked you to be there for me.” I trust them, and I think we’ve got some good stuff. They definitely would give me notes, if I was going in the wrong direction. We’d all talk about what the tone is, in the scene, and what needs to happen and what they need to see from me, and all that kind of stuff. Doing this show, after eight years, we’ve got a good sense of ourselves.

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Image via USA Network

What can you say about where things are at with Harvey and Donna, this season?

MACHT: I think they’re continuing to try to figure out who they are, in relation to each other. I think some of the relationship stuff is totally unconscious. It’s almost like they’re in denial of what and how they need to accomplish whatever it is, to have a personal connection. As far as their business relationship, Harvey always looks to Donna as being a real moral compass to him. He might challenge an idea and say, “There’s no way that I’m doing this,” but he’s always got an ear open to hearing her perspective because he ultimately understands and respects her choices. So, we’ve seen her step up in this COO position, and she really gets the workplace dynamic and relationship dynamic, when it comes to the business element of it all, and what cases to take and why we’re taking specific cases. But I think she’s in as much denial as he is, when it comes to their personal relationship with each other. It’s a constant cycle that they’re in, and they just don’t know how to get out of it.

I have very much enjoyed watching Suits, over the seasons, and you guys have been awesome to watch together, as a cast. At the same time, it’s exciting to see the new dynamic. I can’t wait to see how the season plays out.

MACHT: That’s good. That’s really good. There’s no denying the fact that Aaron Korsh, who created the show and has been the showrunner of the show for all eight seasons, still has his massive imprint on it. What he can do to the dopamine of fans, not too many other people can. So, no matter who you put in this show – if you have Harvey out and Donna out and Louis out, and you put all new characters in – as hard as it would be for fans, I think they’d still enjoy watching the show because it has Aaron’s mark on it. This show has a million stories still to tell. As hard as it is not to see Jessica and Mike and Rachel, there are opportunities for people watching this show and still getting the same feeling, after every episode, without their favorite characters being there.

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Image via USA Network

And it’s definitely really fun to see Harvey trying to figure out who he is, with all of these changes. Seeing him a little off-kilter is always fun, when it comes to someone like Harvey.

MACHT: Yeah, it lines right up to his abandonment issues. It’s about how he deals with people leaving him, left and right. Donna left him, for a whole season. That really shook him up, gave him anxiety, and sent him to therapy. We might see some of that this year, where people very close to him have new interest and separate themselves from him. We’ll see how Harvey relates to them, and how he has to buck up and deal with it.

Suits airs on Wednesday nights on the USA Network.

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Image via USA Network