Suits: LA gets its star! Controversial Arrow actor Stephen Amell to lead NBC’s Suits spinoff – but a Meghan Markle cameo looks unlikely after Royal distanced herself from acting career

Stephen Amell has landed the lead role on NBC’s Suits upcoming spinoff, Suits: LA, which was ordered earlier this month amid renewed success of the original series. 

His casting comes as the the legal drama, which starred Meghan Markle, Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht, became a streaming sensation in 2023.

After the program was acquired by Netflix and Peacock in mid-2023, it began  breaking viewership records and surpassed 3 billion minutes watched. 

Suit only enjoyed middling success during its initial run from 2011 to 2019, but is now America’s most-watched TV show, with Disney+’s animated children’s program Bluey in second place.

The unprecedented surge in popularity prompted creator Aaron Korsh to begin working on a Suits spinoff in October. 

Stephen Amell has landed the lead role on NBC’s Suits upcoming spinoff, Suits: LA, which was ordered earlier this month amid renewed success of the original series; seen in February 2024

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amell a former New York prosecutor, named Ted Black, ‘who now heads a Los Angeles law firm, specializing in criminal and entertainment law, alongside an old friend.’

The show’s logline also teases: ‘His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career.’ 

Earlier this month, a source DailyMail.com exclusively confirmed that Markle would not appear in the reboot, despite writers creating a ‘perfect role’ for her. 

‘Meghan was clear that she didn’t want to be involved as an actor. But Archewell was trying to wiggle its way in as a production company on the spin-off,’ the insider claimed. ‘NBC have killed that idea.’

Separate sources close to Archewell deny this vigorously however, and say that the company would never have been involved in a reboot.

Meghan played paralegal Rachel Zane in the original show, before leaving the role one year after meeting Prince Harry in 2016.

On the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new website, her ‘about me’ describes her as ‘feminist and champion of human rights and gender equity’ but glosses over her career in the entertainment industry as an actress.  

The pilot for Suits: LA, which was ordered in February, was written by Korsh, alongside Suits alums David Bartis, Doug Liman and Gene Klein.

Victoria Mahoney was tapped to direct and executive produce the pilot. 

His casting comes as the the legal drama, which ran from 2011 to 2019 and starred Meghan Markle (pictured in 2012), Patrick J. Adams and Gabriel Macht, became a streaming sensation in 2023

After the program was acquired by Netflix and Peacock in mid-2023, it began breaking viewership records and surpassed 3 billion minutes watched

In July 2023, Amell made headlines for initially opposing the historic SAG-AFTRA strike. 

When SAG-AFTRA also went on strike, Stephen claimed that while he stood by the union, he did not support the strike while attending a convention in North Carolina in late July.

At the time, he stated, ‘I support my union, I do, and I stand with them but I do not support striking, I don’t. I think it is a reductive negotiating tactic and I find the entire thing incredibly frustrating.’

He double downed on his feelings a month later during a chat with TMZ as he  argued: ‘Striking is not the only form of negotiating.’

Earlier this month, a source DailyMail.com exclusively confirmed that Markle would not appear in the reboot, despite writers creating a ‘perfect role’ for her

‘I understand the strike on an intellectual level. Striking is not the only form of negotiating,’ he explained, later adding, ‘If there is a positive here, I would like to think that in some way, shape or form, I can encourage people to get back to the table and negotiate.’ 

Amell expressed that he supports SAG leadership and ‘wants to stand with them’ but doesn’t necessarily ‘agree’ with the choice to go on strike. 

Other controversies of his include his lawsuit requesting that a Los Angeles court shut down an animal rescue group near his home.

In 2021, Amell was escorted off a Delta flight from Austin to Los Angeles following a fight with his wife Cassandra Jean (pictured on August 10, 2021)

After losing the legal battle in December, he shut down claims that he and his wife Cassandra Jean ‘were visibly angry in the courtroom’ over the decision. 

In 2021, he was escorted off a Delta flight from Austin to Los Angeles following a fight with his wife. 

At the time, he detailed the incident on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. 

‘I had too many drinks in a public place, and I got on a plane,’ he said. ‘I was pissed off about something else that had nothing to do with Cass, my wife, and I picked a fight. Just I picked a fight because I wanted to be loud and upset.’ 

He continued: ‘It was not an argument. This is 100 percent my fault. I feel like I went the better part of 10 years without being an a**hole in public.’