After confirming that season eight of Suits will go ahead without Patrick J. Adams or Meghan Markle (aka Mike Ross and Rachel Zane), the show’s creators have announced a brand new character to fill the gaping hole left in their place – and she’ll be played by Katherine Heigl.
USA Network reveals that Heigl, who most recently starred in CBS legal drama Doubt, will play the role of Samantha Wheeler, “a talented new partner at Pearson Specter Litt who challenges the status quo and will either become the firm’s greatest ally… or most powerful enemy,” their press release states.
“Joining Suits was the perfect organic way to not only collaborate with an EP I admire deeply, but to also become part of a show and cast that I am an immense fan of,” Heigl has said in a statement. “I have watched Suits from the very beginning and feel incredibly lucky to be the newest member of the Pearson Specter Litt family.”
Show creator Aaron Korsh tells The Hollywood Reporter that he is “extraordinarily excited to welcome Katherine Heigl” into the show. “I have always been a big fan of her work and was delighted to discover she was an avid Suits fan herself,” he says.
According to Variety, season eight begins filming in Toronto this April. Markle and Adams’ final episode, the finale of season seven, airs in the US on April 25.
