Katherine Heigl has been announced as the newest member of the Suits crew, and will join the Pearson Specter Litt team for the upcoming eighth season of the supercharged legal drama.
And yes, that’s just in time for the departure of some other notable cast members.
In a statement, USA Network said the Grey’s Anatomy star will portray new character Samatha Wheeler, “a talented new partner at Pearson Specter Litt who challenges the status quo and will either become the firm’s greatest ally… or most powerful enemy.”
The intrigue!
Heigl herself said “joining Suits was the perfect organic way to not only collaborate with an EP I admire deeply, but to also become part of a show and cast that I am an immense fan of,” adding “I have watched Suits from the very beginning and feel incredibly lucky to be the newest member of the Pearson Specter Litt family.”
She’ll appear alongside familiar faces Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, and Rick Hoffman. She’ll also join new series regular Dulé Hill, with whom she shared the screen on short-lived series Doubt.
Heigl will not argue about torts with series mainstays Patrick J. Adams nor Meghan Markle, who are both departing the show at the end of the current season.
In his own statement, Adams said his character Mike Ross “taught me a lot about commitment, hard work and the power of believing in yourself and I feel blessed that now we both get to walk out into the lives that we never dreamed we would actually be lucky enough to live.”
Markle, of course, will be walking into a fairly unusual life herself. She’s engaged to marry Prince Harry in May.
Suits Season 8 will begin production this April.
