One is the love interest to a dashing leading man, the other is the nemesis. Meghan Markle (Love interest Rachel Zane) and Rick Hoffman (Nemesis Louis Litt) may not see eye-to-eye very often, but one thing they can agree on is that when it comes to gigs, it certainly doesn’t get very much sweeter than SUITS. Or at least that was our takeaway during a recent visit to the Toronto-based set that saw Markle and Hoffman take a few minutes from shooting to share some juicy tidbits about the challenges looming on the horizon with regards to their respective characters.
MEGHAN: There are changes big time. I would say that, definitely, in developing Rachel and Louis’ dynamic.
RICK: Louis and Rachel are taking care of a case together, which is first time they’ve really ever been working alongside one another and there’s like this kind of cool mutual respect based on something that they both love, which is the ballet.
MEGHAN: Certainly in the pilot, Rachel is a lot more hardened than she is at this point. I think that vulnerability came out mostly because of Mike Ross. But I know in this season we’re exploring the other friendships that Rachel has, like with Sarah Rafferty’s Donna. There’s this new dynamic. We’re meeting a lot more of who Rachel really is and we’re just trying to find a way that Rachel can become a lawyer. She’s also more open to love, to friendship, to being vulnerable in a way that we didn’t see as much last season. Though I have yet to have a scene last season or this season with Jessica; so maybe there’s something in store there to play, especially as Rachel’s becoming much more involved in the firm and the cases to a greater extent than last season. There’s a lot of fun stuff going on for the gals. There’s lot more of Rachel and Donna’s friendship, which is a lot of fun. I think that they’re playing off of the friendships that we have in real life and just sort of letting that come to light on the show. So between those two, for me to be paired up with, it’s a lot of fun.
RICK: Then for me, it’s like you can’t get a better role than what they’re writing for [Louis] this year. I mean like they’ve got him on a roller coaster of many different emotions. This guy can easily be hated, yet this particular this season we found this kind of real human area that wasn’t covered last year. It’s just great writing what they’ve got going on with this guy. They’re really making him a whole human being.
MEGHAN: We have Daniel Hardman this year, too, which puts a whole different spin on what’s going on at the firm.
RICK: If you think Louis is not such a nice guy, Hardman is — well, we don’t want to spoil anything. But Louis was fully aware of who Hardman is. It really has a lot to do with the history with Jessica, Harvey — and Louis has a very clear idea of who this guy is.
MEGHAN: So does Rachel. There’s a very specific context in which Daniel Hardman left the firm and it personally affects Rachel.
RICK: There’s also a big detour, which sort of shifts everything else and it makes everything a little bit more dangerous for everyone in the firm.
MEGHAN: We can keep playing this “cat and mouse” game until who knows what will happen, but I’m certainly team Rachel, though I’m partial.
RICK: We talked about it, Gabriel and myself. It was big. We knew that. There was never really an amount. We knew it had to be huge. But this year the dynamic in the office is quite different so far in the first five episodes, especially what’s happening with Harvey. I’ve said before, one key word I would say that’s makes things a bit messier this year is “leverage,” and that is ultimately what — for every character—makes things risky for everybody this year. People use leverage against one another in many different ways. It might just be about a wager, or it’s a little bit more than that. 
To see if Meghan’s wish comes true and the Mike and Rachel romance heats up and if Louis Litt is as much a changed man as Rick has hinted, be sure to tune in for the premiere of the 2nd season of SUITS on Thursday, June 14th at 10PM on USA Network. In a world where leverage is worth more than gold, one can only imagine what “leverage” everyone will be using.
Tiffany Vogt is the Senior West Coast Editor, contributing as a columnist and entertainment reporter to TheTVaddict.com. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower).