- Patrick J. Adams played Mike Ross in Suits.
- Patrick left the series at the end of season 7
- The actor returned for the final season.
Suits has become a massive hit on Netflix since it became available on the streaming service in June 2023. The USA Network series may have ended in 2019, but the show’s popularity is only getting bigger. Suits has continued to maintain a place in Netflix’s Top 10 TV Shows in the U.S.
The legal drama ran for 134 episodes with Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Sarah Rafferty, and Meghan Markle leading the series. Patrick quickly became a Suits fan favorite as the whip-smart and charming Mike Ross, who becomes an associate working under Harvey Specter. However, Patrick shocked everyone when he left the series at the end of season 7. Why did he leave? How was Mike Ross written out of the show? HollywoodLife is breaking down Patrick’s exit from Suits.
Why Did Patrick J. Adams Leave Suits?
Patrick revealed why he was leaving Suits in a January 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. The news of his exit was during the show’s seventh season.
“After 7 seasons — really, 8 years of being away from home and away from my now-wife [Troian Bellisario] and there was that pressure,” he said at the time. “I started thinking about leaving at the end of the first half of season 6, after Mike was released from prison. From a story point of view, I was a little unsure of what was left for him to do. Mike had made the pledge during his trial that if he were allowed to continue to practice the law, he would dedicate his time and energy to underrepresented people and not big, corporate interests. I wasn’t sure how we were going to work that version of the character into the fabric of the show. Aaron Korsh and I talked about it and he pitched this 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. That brought up an interesting season 7. And I’m proud of how this season turned out.”
The actor noted that he decided season 7 would be his final season as a series regular “halfway” through filming as contract negotiations came up. He continued: “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. 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. That didn’t feel right for him. It didn’t feel right for where I was at in my life, either. I started having conversations with Aaron and we both decided [leaving] made sense, as sad and scary as it was. It just felt like it was the way to go.”
In the interview, Patrick made sure to point out that the was not going to “close any door” when it came to the possibility of reprising his Suits role. “When the time comes, if it felt like it was the right thing to do, I’d definitely be open to it,” he said.
What Happened To Mike Ross?
Meghan Markle also left Suits at the end of season 7, giving Mike and Rachel the happily ever after they deserved. Ahead of Meghan’s actual royal wedding to Prince Harry, Rachel and Mike tied the knot in the season 7 finale. Mike and Rachel then headed off to Seattle where they were going to start a new firm.
“The whole thing was emotional, and I felt like we all went out on a real high note,” Suits creator Aaron Korsh told Deadline about Patrick and Meghan’s final scenes as Mike and Rachel. “I feel like hopefully we went out on a high note creatively but I know we went out with great feelings towards each other personally at the end of the season.”
Did Patrick J. Adams Come Back To Suits?
Yes, Patrick did come back to Suits in season 9, which was also the show’s final season. Meghan did not return as Rachel after her season 7 sendoff. Patrick reprised the role of Mike Ross for 3 episodes in the final season, including the series finale.
“Ultimately, it was about coming back,” Patrick told ET ahead of his return. “It was about, ‘We’d love to get the band back together,’ basically. Do one last trip around the world. It was as simple as that. For me, it was just an excuse to come and see everybody and really be here for the final moment.”
The actor opened up about stepping back into the role of Mike Ross after a year and a half away. The Canadian admitted that he was “worried” he would “feel out of place” back on set, but it was a “really easy rhythm to fall back into.”
Patrick noted that when Mike came back into the fold, the character had finally “found his place in the world. He’s really happy in Seattle. I think he’s killing it. I think him and Rachel are having a great time. It sounds like he’s found that perfect balance between the corporate world and taking big cases and things that really challenge him and sharpened his game, but also working for people that need it and doing right by people, and finding cases where he can protect people who have no one else to protect them.”
What Is Patrick J. Adams Doing Now?
Right after Suits, Patrick played astronaut John Glenn in the Disney+ series The Right Stuff. He also appeared in the Prime Video series A League of Their Own.
Patrick and Troian welcomed their second child in May 2021. He later revealed that their baby girl was delivered in their hospital’s parking lot.
In 2022, Patrick starred in the Broadway play Take Me Out, which had to be postponed for 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Take Me Out later won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
His latest project is the film He Went That Way with Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto. He’ll next be seen in the film Young Werther.