http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/arts/television/gina-torres-on-why-she-decided-to-leave-suits.html 2016-09-15 14:52:15 Gina Torres on Why She Decided to Leave ‘Suits’ The character Jessica Pearson, played by Ms. Torres, has been with the show since the beginning, and the actress was ready for a change. === On Wednesday night’s midseason finale of The episode, which added another twist to the tumultuous sixth season of the USA Network legal drama, marks the end, for now, of a character that had been with “Suits” from the beginning. For “My contract was up, so this wasn’t a power play that went terribly wrong,” Ms. Torres said about her decision to leave “Suits.” After years of traveling between the show’s Toronto set and Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband, the actor Laurence Fishburne, and their daughter, the actress was ready for a change. “My personal life needed to be tended to,” she said. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Ms. Torres was born in New York and reared in Washington Heights and the Bronx. (She graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.) Before “Suits,” the actress had roles in “Firefly,” “24” and “Alias,” among other series, and in movies including “I Think I Love My Wife,” as the title character opposite Chris Rock. (She has also appeared alongside Mr. Fishburne in the “Matrix” franchise, and as his wife in “Hannibal.”) In a recent phone interview peppered with rich laughter, Ms. Torres talked about her decision to leave “Suits” and one of the things she’ll miss the most: Pearson’s drop-dead-gorgeous wardrobe. These are edited excerpts from the conversation. So, the big question: Why now? I think the public doesn’t understand the rigors of shooting a show for an actor, much less when you’re on location and away from home. At one point I approached Aaron [Korsh, the showrunner,] and said: “It’s not that I don’t love the show and love Jessica, who is my alter ego. But my life is my life, and I need to take care of it.” And everyone was completely supportive. Once you had decided to leave, what came next? Leaving was hard, especially when I do so with a heavy heart. And knowing the ambivalence of that moment, they left it open-ended so she doesn’t die. But what was so beautiful and poetic about how we’ve decided to end it is she’s going to find her bliss. After all this time, she is not breaking with anything we’ve come to expect from Jessica Pearson. Anybody might say — “But she has everything!” Well, maybe she doesn’t, and she needs to figure out what’s missing and what’s going to make her happy. Does the fact that Jessica is following Jeff Malone, her former law and romantic partner, to Chicago leave the door open for a return? Yes. [Long pause] See, don’t you feel better now? [Laughs] Who doesn’t want that? And it was one of my pitches to Aaron: “You know these boys are going to screw it up at some point.” Jessica is written as a strong role model — a brilliant woman of color leading a top New York law firm. Did a certain responsibility come attached to that? I never think it’s particularly smart for an actor to attach those kinds of things to characters. They’re fluid and built for entertainment. Having said that, and having unleashed Jessica as I have, did I try to layer in as much compassion and humanity as possible into the shark world that she’s in? Of course. Life is about choices, and the grace or lack thereof with which you execute them is a make-or-break moment in anyone’s life. So in terms of an example of how a woman in power could function, I’m very proud of what I put out there. “Suits” is a relationship show disguised as a legal drama. But let’s face it: For a lot of viewers, it’s all about the clothes. Jolie Andreatta What’s your role on “The Catch”? Oh, I’m a mystery wrapped in an enigma, trapped in a Magic 8-Ball. There’s not too much that I really can say. But it does put me right smack in the middle of Benjamin and Alice, and as an actor, to be right smack in the middle of Mireille [Enos] and Peter [Krause] is really not a bad place to be. And I’m especially excited about having infiltrated Shondaland. Where do you expect “Suits” to head without you? Well that’s no longer any of my business, is it? [Laughs] I’m waiting just like everybody else.