Throughout the nine seasons that it aired, Suits rocked with its star-studded cast as it focused on the journey of the genius Mike Ross from a college dropout to an attorney to one of the city’s best lawyers. But while Patrick J. Adams immaculately embodied the hotshot who gets to become a law associate without even going to law school, it only lasted for seven seasons.
Of course, since his departure was rather sudden and unexpected, not to mention that the series still progressed without him even though the entire plot was based on his character, multiple wild conspiracy theories stemmed among fans regarding his parting ways from the saga. Some of these included fans speculating that his exit was connected to Meghan Markle’s royal engagement.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth, and in reality, their leaving together from the saga was nothing more than a coincidence. As it turns out, the real reason behind Adams’ absence from season 8 was more personal as well as professional, related both to his private life as well as his character.
Why isn’t Patrick J. Adams in Suits Season 8?
After never-ending speculation on just why Michael “Mike” Ross left the masterpiece Suits after season 7, the 43-year-old actor finally confessed to The Hollywood Reporter why he left the series despite being its primary lead: He simply felt it was time for his character to move on after he finally worked on getting his qualifications the right way and marrying the love of his life.
Patrick J. Adams said: “When I looked at the work I was doing, Mike would become a full-fledged, certified, legal on paper lawyer. That’s a long way from when we met him and he was this brilliant burnout pothead with no real prospects. I thought we’d come so far and now Mike is going to work to be a lawyer and he’s engaged to the woman of his dreams and he’s got the means and opportunity to do whatever he can imagine.”
That said, the actor, who found his breakthrough in the entertainment industry through this very role, went on to explain how “I had this voice in my head that said that we’ve told his story and if he hangs out longer, Mike is just going to be another lawyer on television.” This, obviously, didn’t feel right for this widely-loved character. Thus, after discussing it with creator Aaron Korsh, “as sad and scary as it was. It just felt like it was the way to go.”
Plus, “It didn’t feel right for where I was at in my life, either,” as Adams said. As it turns out, the Plan B star realized that not only did he need to move on in his acting career and take on other gigs, but he even needed to give more time to his own family which he started in 2016 after tying the knot with Pretty Little Liars alum Troian Bellisario.
Working on this series had him spending “8 years of being away from home and away from my now-wife,” since his work took him away from his family for most of the year. That said, he “started thinking about leaving at the end of the first half of season 6, after Mike was released from prison” after being unsure of what his character was supposed to do.
This was a genuine concern, especially since Michael pledged during his trial that he would dedicate his time and energy to underrepresented people instead of big, corporate interests if allowed to continue practicing the law.
Due to all of these reasons, after much discussion, they concluded with Korsh pitching the idea of “Harvey offering a one-for-one deal that would keep Mike working at the firm so he could gather the resources to go and do more pro-bono cases.” Eventually, by the end of season 7, the college dropout turned law attorney – thanks to his wits, brilliance, and photographic memory – goes on to the Big Apple to open the Eastside Legal Clinic in Seattle.
Patrick J. Adams’ Mike Reappeared in Season 9
While he did leave to focus more on his family – which he did as, within a year of leaving, he had his first daughter Aurora, before expanding their family to two kids and multiple dogs – and career and allow space for his character to grow on his own, Adams didn’t entirely shut the door on future appearances in the series.
After being gone for one season, he returned once again in a few episodes of season 9, including the season finale to help create one of the most sweet and emotional finales of all time. To say the least, the way the two tried to hilariously recreate the interview scene from the first episode after Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) decided to apply for a job at Michael Ross’ legal clinic brought everything to a perfect, full circle.
Patrick J. Adams’ Salary for Suits
Throughout the time that Adams immaculately brought the fan-beloved Michael Ross to life, the actor was compensated handsomely for all his outstanding performances.
According to the estimates by Sumissura, Adams reportedly made around $35,000 per episode for the first and second seasons; $50,000 for the third, fourth, and fifth seasons; and finally, $60,000 for his contributions to the sixth, seventh, and ninth seasons.
Although this amount may sting as being less as compared to other critically acclaimed dramas, Adams still seems to have made around an estimated whopping $5.9 million, which sounds like it significantly contributed to his current net worth of $10 million (as per Celebrity Net Worth).
Well, for whatever it’s worth, we’re glad not only Mike but even Patrick J. Adams himself could grow tremendously after leaving the firm and show that helped build both of their star-studded careers.
Suits can currently be streamed on Netflix.
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