Stephen Amell suits back up as lead of “Suits” spinoff
The "Arrow" actor will star in "Suits: LA" as Ted Black, a former New York prosecutor who builds an L.A. law firm specializing in criminal and entertainment law.
Stephen Amell is suiting back up — but now he's trading in his superhero attire for something a little more practical.
EW has confirmed that the former Arrow star has been cast as the lead of the Suits spinoff, Suits: LA. Instead of shooting arrows and wearing green leather as Oliver Queen a.k.a. the DC Comics hero Green Arrow, Amell will now be donning formal suits and ties as Ted Black, described as a "charismatic force of nature who puts his own needs above others."
Suits: LA currently has a pilot order at NBC and is being written and executive-produced by Suits creator Aaron Korsh. The new series follows Ted, a former federal prosecutor from New York who has reinvented himself, representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles after joining forces 15 years ago with his old friend, Stuart Lane, to build a law firm that specializes in criminal and entertainment law. But now his firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career.
The pilot is scheduled to start filming next month in Vancouver, and no other castings have been announced at this time. But EW learned last year that characters from the original series could potentially cross over if the show gets a series order.
The original Suits starred Patrick J. Adams as con man-turned-lawyer Mike Ross, who became the young protégé to Gabriel Macht's legal shark Harvey Specter at a top NYC firm. The legal drama ran from 2011 to 2019 on USA Network and also starred Gina Torres, Sarah Rafferty, Rick Hoffman, and Meghan Markle (before she married Prince Harrry and became the Duchess of Sussex). The series recently enjoyed a viral resurgence in 2023 when the first eight seasons became available to stream on Netflix (the ninth and final season — as well as short-lived spinoff Pearson — is only available on Peacock), where it unexpectedly broke streaming records and topped Nielsen's streaming charts for months on end. As a result, the cast recently reunited onstage at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards.
Amell most recently starred in the Starz's wrestling drama Heels, but he's best known for portraying Oliver Queen, a.k.a. the Green Arrow, over the course of eight years on The CW, first on Arrow before growing his own interconnected TV universe dubbed the Arrowverse on The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and Batwoman. He will next be seen starring in his Netflix sci-fi movie sequel Code: 8 Part II with his cousin Robbie Amell.
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