Maggie Grace, Sofia Pernas and ‘Suits L.A.’ Cast Talk Characters and On-Set Secrets (EXCLUSIVE)
One star didn’t even watch the original show until she got cast in the spinoff—find out which!
The highly anticipated spin-off show Suits L.A. is finally here, and to celebrate, First for Women magazine decided to catch up with the show’s leading ladies—Maggie Grace, Sofia Pernas, Rachelle Goulding and Alice Lee to discuss their time on the show and who they think their characters are. Read on for more, but be warned that there might be spoilers!
Maggie Grace talks balancing motherhood and acting
Grace is a 41-year-old actress best known for playing Shannon Rutherford on Lost and Althea Szewczyk-Przygocki in Fear the Walking Dead. But now she is ready to become something else: a pro bono lawyer named Amanda Steven in the highly anticipated legal drama Suits L.A.—a role she claims is “such a pleasure.”
“Her worldview is markedly different from that of Ted Black [Stephen Amell] or certainly of Harvey Specter [Gabriel Macht],” Grace explained to First for Women. “But I think she’s no less ambitious in her own way. And I think she’s realizing that more and more as the season goes on.”
“What I have observed from watching the show is that you don’t have to have a deep and thorough knowledge of the law to enjoy it,” she continued. “I think at its heart, it’s just as much a workplace comedy, and it’s about relationships and getting to know these people and their foibles, as much as good old fashioned tort law.”
Aside from being an actress, Grace has two kids, whom she shares with her husband, Brent Bushnell, and according to her, the most important thing for them is staying put.
“I have learned not to move the kids around unnecessarily,” The actress shared. “We just try to keep routines really locked in, and I try to support them with all of the bedtime routines. It’s hard for little people to move around, and I appreciate them being so adaptable to be here in L.A. for Suits L.A.”
Grace and Bushnell have been married since 2017 and he works as an entrepreneurial engineer.
Sofia Pernas on her dream role and Justin Hartley’s reaction
In the legal drama, Pernas will play Elisabeth Smith, an attorney at the L.A. District Attorney’s office, and even though she won’t be at the law firm, her character is expected to make quite a splash.
“I love playing women like Elisabeth so much because she’s so special and does not care about confrontation. She seeks it out in a way and takes certain satisfaction from having the bad guys go down. She’s formidable; she knows what she wants and goes after it,” Pernas said. “From start to finish, it’s been so surreal. It’s part of this amazing legacy, and so highly anticipated and has been so much fun.”
Beyond acting, Pernas is also very well known for her marriage to Justin Hartley (Tracker, This is Us), who “couldn’t believe it” when she won the role of Elisabeth.
“He was with me when I got the news that I booked it, and he whooped very loudly,” Pernas laughed. “He’s just so sweet and awesome.”
The pair have been married since 2021 and have no children.
Rachelle Goulding on how the role changed her life
Goulding is a 38-year-old actress from Vancouver, Canada, best known for her work in the 2022 Netflix miniseries Firefly Lane. Now, though, she is taking on an entirely new role as Samantha in Suits L.A.
“I feel really lucky because I get to play her in the past and present,” Goulding said of the role. “As an actor, when you’re given a role where you can go into their history and see how they develop over time, that’s super juicy to me. When I look at my own life, who I was 15 years ago, to who I am today, it’s just a completely different person and there are a lot of things you have to sacrifice in order to become the person you are currently.
“I brought myself to Samantha. We’re so lucky that we have incredible writers who created very compelling characters, and I think you just bring yourself to the character.”
When she’s not acting, Goulding can be found either with her dog or scuba diving, which she says is a “spiritual and meditative experience”
“All I could say is that the feeling that it gives me when I’m scuba diving, that vast quietness where you’ve kind of escaped this whole world, that is something that I can’t explain,” she muses. “I just feel so honored when I’m underneath the ocean because I feel like I’m so in touch with wildlife and nature, and you’re just forced to be present.”
Goulding is not married and has no children.
Alice Lee’s honest take on joining the ‘Suits’ universe
On Suits L.A. Lee plays Emily Kang, an assistant at the law firm, and she could not be more excited for the role.
“She’s super smart, wants to climb to the top and is super quirky,” Lee said. “It’s an absolute honor and joy to be a part of the universe, and I’m excited for everyone to see what we’ve been up to.”
Despite that, though, Lee said that she had never seen the original Suits before being cast in the West Coast spin-off.
“After I found out I was possibly gonna be a part of it [Suits L.A.], I started watching it [Suits],” The actress said. “It was so fun. It was way less of a procedural than I thought it would be, which I loved, so quick-witted, and the characters are so rich.”
Lee is 35 years old and lives in Los Angeles, California.
Be sure to check out all these leading ladies in Suits L.A. every Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on NBC.
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