Welcome to Pearson Hardman: On the Set of USA’s Suits

Photography Credit: Ben Mark Holzberg/USA Network

 As I stood in front of the Pearson Hardman name, listening to Patrick J. Adams tell us about the elevators that don’t actually move, I was only half aware of the fact that I was on the set of USA’s hit series Suits. The other half of me was left deciding whether or not I was a client or the newest associate at the esteemed law firm. Based on how often I walked through the file room that day, I leaned more towards “newest associate.”

In reality, USA recently flew a group of journalists, myself included, out to Toronto to visit the set of their fan-favorite show Suits to get the scoop on the highly anticipated second season. Stay tuned throughout the next two weeks to PCM to hear what we learned from the stars of the series like Patrick J. Adams, Gabriel Macht, Rick Hoffman, Meghan Markle, Sarah Rafferty, a few surprise guests and Gina Torres.

But for now, let’s talk Pearson Hardman. Here’s one glimpse into the coming season: there’s a full office built on the set for founding partner Daniel Hardman. Even without seeing the premiere that’s a pretty good hint that we’ll be seeing more from the mysterious and potentially devious Hardman.

As you can see in the picture, his office is in a prime location with an incredible view of the city. But fun fact: the cityscapes seen through the windows are enlarged (incredibly enlarged) photographs of the city itself. And if you look carefully, as one insider instructed us to do, you’ll see that there are no people in this city.

Patrick was kind enough to give us a tour of the stage we were on which didn’t just include Hardman’s office and that daunting Pearson Hardman name, but also Rachel’s office. This was particularly exciting to hear Patrick’s take on because most of the photographs featured on Rachel’s office wall are actually photographs that Patrick himself took! And he’s quite proud of his first unofficial collection.

Of course, this leads to some playful banter between both Patrick and Meghan Markle, the actress who brings Rachel to life. As Patrick explained it, Meghan will often playfully complain about the pictures and how much she does or does not like them. Patrick’s revenge? Toying with Meghan by telling her how much he’s looking forward to Mike having a scene with Jenny. We love that the back and forth between Mike and Rachel is fairly true to life between Patrick and Meghan!

Patrick also led us, by means of his skateboard, to another stage where we got to see the full-blown courtroom they created for Season 2. It’s something Patrick was particularly excited about as he recalled having to film in actual working courtrooms and the difficulties that could present. Now, they’ve got the courtroom to themselves – and the seal of the state of New York, something Patrick explained they’ve always brought with them, even to the live courts. It sounded like a joke, but we’re fairly sure he meant it when he told us he has pictures of that seal in random places while in transit.

We took a break from the touring to chat with some familiar faces, but afterwards we headed over to the other stage where nearly everything else could be found: Jessica’s office, Harvey’s office, Donna’s desk, the associate’s room of desks, the break room, the library and Louis’ office.

Here’s the rundown:

Harvey’s office is exactly as it seems. Complete with a table of high-end alcohol, a wall full of vinyl records and a room lined with signed basketballs and baseballs – literally, there was an autographed baseball everywhere you turned – I was surprised Harvey didn’t come strolling through the door and tell us not to touch the memorabilia. Don’t worry, though, we knew well enough not to make that rookie mistake!

Jessica’s office is spacious and beautiful with the most inviting color scheme and lounge area of any we visited, despite the fact we may be a little intimidated to sit down and spend any lounge time with Ms. Pearson herself. Interesting note, her office chair… not particularly comfortable.

The best thing to reveal about Louis is something so appropriate to Louis that we are surprised how much it surprised us. Inside his office, Louis has pictures of himself lined up along his wall. Yes! Brilliant, right? It’s so Louis! They are some good pictures, though. Can’t really blame the man.

And the library is quite expansive for a set. It’s got a set of stairs, plenty of computers, desks and chairs to study in and all of the books are REAL!

By the time we returned to our home in the boardroom, the cityscape outside had shifted from well-lit daytime to a night scene, just reinforcing the idea that we were new associates who had put in our first day-long shift at Pearson Hardman. Next time they’re looking for a new hire, there’s a few of us who have a nice line on our resume now.

Over the course of the next few days, I’ll be posting more from my time on set including interviews with all the talent we spoke with – from series stars to burgeoning stars to executive producers to a Covert Affairs cast member (wait… what?). They had some great insight to share on the upcoming season you won’t want to miss.

In the mean time, check out a few more pictures from the set and why not enter our Suits contest while you’re at it?

I’d like to extend a huge thanks to everyone at USA, NBC, 360i and the entire cast and crew of Suits for making the set visit both a possibility and an unforgettable experience. It was an amazing opportunity to support an incredible show that will only continue to dominate our TV schedules this season.

Don’t miss the season premiere of Suits on Thursday, June 14 at 10/9c on USA.