Stephen Amell is not blaming NBC, and neither is he blaming the writers or the creative team. Instead, he is putting the spotlight on himself after ‘Suits L.A.‘ was canceled.
The spinoff lasted just one season, and now Amell is openly calling it a failure. The actor says the show could have survived. But only if he had delivered something stronger as the lead.
Stephen Amell Says He Couldn’t Make ‘Suits L. A.’ Strong Enough
During an appearance on Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum, Stephen Amell, who played Ted Black in ‘Suits L.A.‘, recently spoke about the show’s cancellation. He admitted he thought the series “wasn’t good enough.” He also said, “Anything that ends not on your terms is a failure.” Instead of pointing fingers, he made it clear: “The blame rests with me.”
Related: Why Much-Hyped ‘Suits’ Spin-off ‘Suits LA’ Flopped
He went even further, saying, “Whatever problem you have with the show, because I think that there were issues, it’s my job to solve those, to smooth them over and to gloss them up with some type of performance or something that, tangible or otherwise, covers up those mistakes.” He added that a magnetic, charismatic performance should fix those cracks. “And I didn’t do that,” he admitted.
He said he never fully found something in Ted Black that truly connected with viewers. He couldn’t bring out a version of the character that made people forget the show’s flaws. Because of that, he thinks the series never got the chance to grow.
Creator Aaron Korsh Had Early Doubts Too
Amell revealed that concerns about the show began early. About a month after filming wrapped, he sat down with creator Aaron Korsh while Korsh was editing the pilot. During that meeting, Korsh admitted, “I don’t know if this is going to work.”
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Reflecting on watching the pilot about a month after filming wrapped, Amell recalled sitting down with creator Aaron Korsh while he was editing. “When I saw the pilot of Suits L.A., and this goes back to about a month after we finished shooting, I sat down with Aaron Korsh, who created Suits and Suits L.A., and he was editing the pilot. He was like, ‘I don’t know if this is going to work,’” Amell said.
He also said it seemed like what Korsh wanted creatively did not fully match what the network wanted. Amell clarified that he was not part of those conversations and does not want to speculate. Still, he noticed that the creative direction and the network’s expectations appeared different. Even so, Amell refuses to use that as an excuse.
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