The Cast Of Suits & Their Real-Life Partners
Few television shows get a second life like "Suits" did. The legal drama, synonymous with a slew of iconic characters (most notably the starring showman Harvey Specter), witnessed a resurgence in popularity over a decade after it premiered in 2011. This welcome development came following the series' shift from its USA Network homebase to Netflix, where it climbed the charts to smash new records.
In 2023, "Suits" was at the top of the game among acquired shows with an impressive watch time of 3.14 billion minutes, The Hollywood Reporter noted. Of course, this milestone could have been catalyzed by a number of factors, including the royal uptick in attention certain cast members have experienced in recent times. (No points for guessing who takes the cake!)
Over its eight-year run and beyond, "Suits" is known as much for its thrilling plots as it is for the eclectic characters and romances involved. While we all fell in love with Mike and Rachel (not to mention Harvey and Donna), the "Suits" stars' off-screen relationships are just as dynamic as their characters'.
Suits co-stars Gabriel Macht and Jacinda Barrett are happily married
Age-old wisdom suggests not mixing the personal with the professional. But when you're the brilliant Harvey Specter, it's a proposition you're willing to challenge. "Suits" lead star Gabriel Macht married his ladylove Jacinda Barrett in 2004, eventually sharing screen space with her on the legal drama in which she played Zoe Lawford. In Season 2 of the series, Barrett was cast opposite her husband in a fitting romantic context that only spanned three episodes.
Although their television affair was brief, Macht and Barrett have been going strong for over two decades in real life. And it all started with a blind date. "I picked three different restaurants; she said yes to one of them. We closed down the place, and we've been together ever since," Macht told Glamour.
Although Harvey is ever the casanova, Macht only has eyes for one woman. It was only after marrying Barrett that he felt complete. "When you get down to it, if your partner is happy and fulfilled, that's all that matters. When I married my wife, that's when I fully became a man," he told Man's World. The next major milestone came when the couple became parents, first in 2007 and a second time in 2014. For Macht and Barrett, it's a relationship of mutual effort. As Barrett put it to Girl.com.au, "My husband and I are constantly evolving through our understanding of each other and us."
Meghan Markle became royalty by marrying Prince Harry
Meghan Markle's love story is well known by now. The former "Suits" star renowned as Rachel Zane bowed out of acting in 2018 when she married British royal scion Prince Harry. In this fairytale set in the social media age, the couple first crossed paths in 2016 on Instagram – like any ol' millennial. Harry apparently saw Meghan on a friend's profile — with the dog ears filter, no less — and was immediately intrigued, he revealed on Netflix's "Harry & Meghan." The couple eventually went out on a date. "He was just so fun," Meghan gushed in the docu-series. "Just so refreshingly fun. ... We were like childlike together." Come May 2018, the couple tied the knot in a dreamy castle ceremony at Windsor Castle, watched by nearly 30 million people worldwide.
Equally famous (or rather infamous) is the dark side of Meghan and Harry's relationship, which, from the get-go, was encumbered by tabloid attention and negative commentary in the press that only surged as time progressed. It spelled a downward spiral for Meghan, who made explosive revelations about her troubled life as a royal in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. "I just didn't want to be alive anymore," she admitted. "And that was a very clear and real and frightening, constant thought." Amid whispers of a rift within the family, Meghan and Harry stepped down from their royal roles in 2020 and moved to the United States, where they live with their two children.
Patrick J. Adams met his wife on the set of a play
Patrick J. Adams and his sweetheart Troian Bellisario worked through the odds — and extremely busy schedules — to make their relationship work Needless to say, they've been successful, with a decade (and counting!) of love behind them. As it so happens, a chance meeting on stage brought the two actors together for the first time. "We did a play together in LA called 'Equivocation.' She was cast for the part of my romantic interest," Adams told Her World magazine. "Equivocation" accomplished as much for the lovebirds' romantic lives as it did for their professional lives, with Variety describing Bill Cain's production as "one of the most bracingly intelligent, sizzlingly theatrical American plays in a decade."
A few years later, Adams and Bellisario wound up hitting career peaks around the same time as their characters, Mike Ross and Spencer Hastings in "Suits" and "Pretty Little Liars," respectively. Unfortunately, though, these roles required the couple to spend more time apart. Their shows were shot on opposite coasts, which often became a challenge. "It's really hard to be away from the person you love, especially when they're your rock and support system," Bellisario admitted to People, but not without quipping that too much time together "might have been too much."
In 2016, the pair married in a rustic camp-style wedding in the woods and have since welcomed two daughters.
Sarah Rafferty didn't marry a fellow actor
After seasons of romantic build-up, Donna Paulsen (played by Sarah Rafferty) memorably ended up with Harvey Specter on "Suits." In real life, though, it didn't take so long for Rafferty's love story to materialize. Rafferty met Santtu Seppälä while they were both attending college. Seppälä was pursuing a bachelor's degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics at Yale University around the same time Rafferty was working toward a Master of Fine Arts degree. Though their professional fields were poles apart, love drew the couple together and they tied the knot in 2001. Seppälä and Rafferty have since welcomed two daughters.
Despite having an over two-decades-long marriage behind them, the duo is still as wildly in love as can be. As Rafferty once wrote in an Instagram birthday wish to her husband: "Excited to get back to my very favorite past time — world adventuring with you. ... Thanks for making all my logistically ridiculous ideas into a reality."
The two are committed parents but manage to sneak in some alone time on special occasions. On Valentine's Day one year, for instance, they "skipped the usual romantic night at a restaurant and ... snuck off for a quick ski trip," the actor recalled when speaking to Healthy Living magazine.
Abigail Spencer shares a son with her ex-husband
Back in 2004, Abigail Spencer married Andrew Pruett. After about seven years of marriage though, Spencer filed for divorce. Both she and Pruett were awarded joint custody of their son, who was 3 years old at the time. However, according to documents obtained by The Blast in 2019, Spencer demanded a modification to the agreement citing abusive behavior on Pruett's part, which she alleged had affected her relationship with Roman. "He is verbally abusive and a bully," court documents quoted her as saying. "He bullied me our entire marriage and he has continued this attempt."
Spencer hasn't married again — although she was spotted vacationing in Mexico with a mystery man in 2018. Nevertheless, she does have a special man in her life — her son. The teen is Spencer's only child and has been, since his childhood, the apple of her eye. As the actor once gushed on Instagram: "Becoming your mother has been the greatest adventure & the wildest ride. Heart-expansion-overload."
To Spencer's delight, little Roman showed early inclinations to follow his mom into the showbiz world, once trying his hand at directing. In an interview with Parade, the "Suits" star described how her son once accompanied her to set where he "got a wig put on, and bruises and cuts put on his face. ... He looked like a little savant director with his headphones on. He gave his direction and his feedback after the take."
Gina Torres was married to Laurence Fishburne before finding love with a cowboy
Gina Torres is an old hand in film and television. Her three-decade career spans multiple critically acclaimed credits, from her impactful role in "Suits" to her short stint as the lead in "Firefly." Running parallel to Torres' upward trajectory was her famous one-time marriage to another major screen star — Laurence Fishburne.
The Hollywood veteran was married to Torres for well over a decade, with the power couple sharing a daughter and several screen appearances (most memorably in "The Matrix" film franchise). Torres met Fishburne during her late 20s. "I was always open to love and being loved and having a family and being in a partnership," she told Bustle. The two married in 2002, but it was not a union meant to last. Their split in 2016 was seemingly amicable, with Torres describing their relationship to People as "a love story with a different ending than either one of us had expected."
In 2017, Page Six reported that Torres coupled up with a Utahn entrepreneur named Kevin Wright, whom she met, extraordinarily enough, on a beach in California. "I think when you've been married a long time and you become single, you look for someone that has what your ex was missing," a source reportedly told Page Six. "I think [Torres] finds in Kevin what she didn't find in [Fishburne]. He's the opposite of a Hollywood guy — he's just a cowboy type." However, this was more than a fling. As of March 2023, the couple is still going strong.
Vanessa Ray's found love again with Landon Beard
Vanessa Ray's 2015 wedding with her musician boyfriend Landon Beard was a private affair. The lovebirds decided to keep their fairytale ceremony intimate and away from paparazzi attention, saying their "I dos" at an idyllic ranch in California. The ceremony was steeped in sentiment, with hand-me-down accessories and lots and lots of music, according to E! News. The romantic affair was preceded by an even more swoon-worthy proposal.
Beard laid out a meticulous plan to pop the question on an otherwise uneventful day in which Ray spent "reading food magazines and doing nothing but [surfing] Pinterest for cool side braids," she told Hello! magazine. "He convinced me to go for a walk to one of our favorite spots — Pier 84 — on the Hudson River in the freezing cold," the "Suits" star said. Ray's best friend Kelly Sullivan, of "General Hospital" fame, flew down to Manhattan to witness the magical moment.
On social media, Beard has hyped Ray up since day one — from marking his first post with her in 2011 to giving fans endless peeks into their wedded bliss. "It is I who got the gift when she was born," he wrote in a mushy Instagram post on his partner's birthday. This is the second marriage for Ray, who was previously married to actor Derek Baynham, with whom she starred in "Marriage Under Construction."
Katherine Heigl is married to a famous singer
Katherine Heigl's love story befits the rom-com heroine that she is. The star of films like "Knocked Up" and "27 Dresses" had a musical meet-cute with her now-husband Josh Kelley while filming a video for his 2005 song "Only You." Recalling their first meeting, the pop-rock singer told Billboard, "I showed up that day, we started doing our scenes together, and we just hit it off. We've been together ever since that day." The celebrity couple had a courtship period of about two years before tying the knot in 2007. They share three children between them.
Heigl and Kelley are couple goals personified, gushing about each other every chance they get. The former "Suits" star did not hold back on the praise for her husband during an interview with Oprah Winfrey soon after her wedding. "He's a phenomenal, phenomenal man," she said. "I've never met a man like him, and I don't know if I ever will again."
Of course, as in every healthy relationship, the couple has weathered storms. But as only an artist can, Kelley possesses the faculty to turn the couple's arguments on their heads and find inspiration for his work. "It's Your Move" was the result of one such argument, Kelley revealed to The Washington Post. "Look, she's my best friend, we have these fights all the time, it's what keeps us close," he once told fans. "But every now and then that girl will spark something in me that just feels so good. And sometimes I gotta write a song about it."
David Costabile's wife is a multifaceted actor and teacher
With roles in shows like "The Wire," "Breaking Bad," and "Suits" under his belt, David Costabile is a familiar face in showbiz. It's not a widely known fact that his wife is a prominent personality, though, as much of her work exists beyond the mainstream space. Eliza Baldi, who married Costabile in 2012, is known in the niche arthouse theater circuit with credits in "Monkey, Take Off Your Mask!" and "Habit." Her proficiency in dramatics also landed her among the teaching faculty at Fordham University in New York, where she put her behind-the-camera expertise to use by teaching directing.
Years of being a performer and artist have also imparted a wealth of industry knowledge to Baldi, who often passes it on to her husband. When speaking to The Ringer, Costabile echoed his wife's sage advice, which she'd taken from a director: "Luck is necessary, but you also have to be ready to walk through that door when luck presents itself." Choosing the acting life means being in it for the long haul — and Costabile is well aware of it, especially since becoming a family man with two children.
As he told the publication, "Having kids, getting married just kind of pushes you to the high end of the casino — like, I need much bigger chips. But it never feels like it's a short battle." Work doesn't let Costabile miss out on soft acts of love, though — like stopping mid-interview to pick up treats for his wife.
Neal McDonough and his wife Ruvé run a production company together
For Neal McDonough, family comes first — even if that means losing out on work. The television veteran, known for his roles on shows like "Band of Brothers" and "Suits," has kept himself busy as an actor for the past three decades without compromising on his principles. One of these is an unshakeable commitment to his wife, Ruvé McDonough. "I won't kiss any other woman because these lips are meant for one woman," he told Closer Weekly about his no onscreen-kissing policy. His filmography shows that Neal is hardly the quintessential Hollywood rom-com hero, but the story of how he met Ruvé would make for a Hallmark movie.
The two apparently bumped into each other on the street in England. For Neal, who was already seeing someone at the time, it was love at first sight and totally irresistible at that. He recalled, "The next morning, I called the woman I was dating at the time and said, 'I'm sorry, it's not going to work out with us anymore — I just met the woman I'm going to marry.'" And the rest, as they say, is history!
Neal and Ruvé, a model from South Africa, got hitched in 2003 and raised a brood of five children over two decades together. The couple also turned their relationship professional with The McDonough Company, a production house that is at the helm of projects like "Boon" and "Brass & Unity," according to Deadline.
Amy Acker starred in a quarantine film with her husband
Amy Acker has been in a long and happy marriage with fellow actor James Carpinello that is presumably driven as much by love as it is by artistic pursuits. The pair's acting credits span film and television, with the odd career overlap, such as in the 2014 dark comedy "Let's Kill Ward's Wife," which saw the couple co-starring on screen for the first time. Naturally, a house with two artists under the roof is bound to be bursting with creative energies. In 2020, Acker and Carpinello memorably brought the best of their talents together once again in "Outside," a quarantine-inspired short film produced entirely during the pandemic.
It was a long-awaited project for the longtime lovers. "We're always saying we're going to do something together, and there's a million and one reasons why we don't," Carpinello told Entertainment Weekly. "Life sort of takes over. This was really a moment when life had literally slowed down." With the couple's two kids busy with online school and friends more than willing to help with this homegrown project, Acker and Carpinello succeeded in breathing life into their brainchild.
Work aside, the couple seems to have a lifetime supply of love to see them through. The "Suits" star actively leaves little notes for her husband on Instagram, once dedicating a birthday post to him that sweetly described him as "the guy who can do it all and makes our lives extra fun."
Eric Roberts made some difficult life choices to save his marriage
When Eliza Roberts first met Eric Roberts in the late 1980s, she actually thought he was gay, as she recalled to Vanity Fair. Little did she know, the two would end up happily married just a few years later. Theirs was a meet-cute story for the ages, with the stars aligning to seat the actor pair beside each other on a flight. Though Eliza initially groaned at the thought of conversing with her co-passenger, her feelings about her dreamboat husband quickly became clear: "The crush-worthiness of him spans generations and genders." His charming, corrupt billionaire character of Charles Forstman in "Suits" was an exhibit of the bad boy niche that Eric has mastered in his five-decade career in showbiz.
Eric has been generous in crediting a lot of his success in work and life to Eliza. Besides being his manager, she was an important catalyst in Eric putting himself back on track after a long period of substance abuse. "I was doing it to the point where my wife said, 'It's me or the coke'," he told Vanity Fair.. A Tampa Bay Times report from 1995 also recorded Eric's arrest following an alleged incident of domestic abuse. Eric eventually got clean and he and Eliza stuck it out.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.