'Suits' Season 8 Updates: Amanda Schull Promoted to Series Regular
Meghan Markle's character, Rachel Zane, might be saying goodbye after the end of season 7, but "Suits" will not run out of female leads with the promotion of Amanda Schull as a new series regular.
USA Network announced Wednesday that Schull will be part of the regular cast of "Suits" season 8. She is set to reprise her role as Louis Litt's (Rick Hoffman) former associate-turned-junior Pearson Specter Litt partner Katrina Bennett.
Schull made her debut in the legal drama series in season 2 as Litt's protégé. Her promotion to series regular will come after her Syfy series "12 Monkeys" airs its fourth and final season later this year.
"Amanda Schull and Katrina Bennett have been a part of the Suits extended family for years and I am very excited to welcome them both into our immediate family," series creator and executive producer Aaron Korsh said in a statement published by Deadline. "Katrina will continue her journey on the road to senior partnership while learning some hard new lessons throughout the course of the season," he added.
Aside from Schull, actor Dulé Hill is also promoted as series regular in season 8 to reprise his role as Pearson Specter Litt's new partner, Alex Williams. The character was introduced in season 7.
The network also enlisted "Grey's Anatomy" alum Katherine Heigl as one of the series regulars for season 8 as she portrays the role of the talented new partner at the firm. According to the network, Samantha, to be played by Heigl, will challenge the status quo at the firm as she begins working with Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and the other partners.
The addition of the new characters is expected to fill in the void that will be left by Rachel and Patrick J. Adam's character, Mike Ross. Both characters will depart from the series after the finale of season 7.
The current season of "Suits" will resume on USA Network on Wednesday, March 28, at 9 p.m. EDT.