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When Patrick J. Adams steps on to the set of Suits, he is first and foremost Mike Ross, but during the week of shooting the 100 th episode, which airs on August 30, he also had another important role – director. Though he’s been in this coveted position before, this time it was his job to make sure all the scenes were the best they could be. “Being a director is more macro; I get to think about a lot of moving pieces at once,” he told HELLO! earlier this summer. “I’m a Virgo; I naturally love to organize things. I get to have control over things that as an actor I have to sort of ignore.”
Patrick directed the 100th episode Photo: Getty Images
But having a seat in the director’s chair isn’t always easy. “I think I’m getting better at it,” Patrick, who admires the careers of Sydney Pollack and George Clooney, shared. “There was one episode I directed, the mock trial. I just had to leap over my fear of telling people what to do. Literally there was one part where I’m like Gabriel, sit there, you stand there. It’s like conducting an orchestra.”
Behind-the-scenes with Patrick while he directed his fourth episode Photo: Ian Watson/ USA Network
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The 35-year-old and his co-stars Meghan Markle, Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty and Rick Hoffman have been making sweet music for seven seasons – and the cast isn’t letting the extra attention of a certain royal romance affect the product. “We are all a big family. We’ve been together for years,” he admitted. “We all show up and know we have to get so much done within a day so whatever is going on outside, for everybody – everybody has their lives. As long as everybody is happy, then everybody is excited to get to work. We try not to let anything bleed into the process.”
Patrick has said in the past he is like a protective big brother to co-star Meghan Markle Photo: Nigel Parry/USA Network
Currently he has been enjoying the summer hiatus before Suits resumes filming on September 11 with his wife Troian Bellisario. The two call Los Angeles home, but with her show Pretty Little Liars wrapped, they have been able to spend more quality time in Toronto. “It’s nice,” he said. “Before we had to carve out a weekend for each other and now we can hang for a couple of weeks. It feels like a normal relationship.”
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His co-star and love interest on the USA Network legal drama, Meghan is also very familiar with making a long distance relationship work with Prince Harry. The 36-year-old just spent a luxurious vacation in Africa with her British royal beau and has been jetting to London whenever possible. While Harry hasn’t visited the Suits set just yet, one could hope that happens in September when he heads to Toronto for his Invictus Games. Still, it might not seem likely that Harry will keep with the trend of having significant others make cameos on the show like Gabriel’s wife Jacinda Barrett or Troian. “Anything to do with that is so far above my pay grade as you can imagine,” the Canadian-native joked.
The newlyweds have been enjoying the Suits summer hiatus together Photo: Getty Images
As for the relationship that has captivated fans around the world, Patrick says Mike Ross and Rachel Zane are solid despite navigating their new success. “They are super in love and together; there is no doubt they are the person for each other,” he noted. “It’s cool to have a love story that’s just inherent that they are in love but you get to see them struggle with how do you make time for each other when we don’t even have time for ourselves.”
It’s also something that he has dealt with personally balancing his career and eight-year relationship with Troian. Aside from working together whenever possible – their short film We are Here will be released this year – the writer explained: “Learning to make both things a priority is complicated, and everyone relates to it one way or another. You have to make sacrifices and learn to communicate and learn to say yes and no.”
Suits airs on USA Wednesdays at 9 p.m. est