‘Pearson’ Premiere Countdown – Murtz Jaffer Interviews Gina Torres On The Set Of ‘Pearson’

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With one chapter closing, another is ready for its first page to be turned.

Suits is undoubtedly one of the best dramas on TV. I was first introduced to the show in 2011 when I was part of an online team of journalists invited to visit the set in Toronto. While legal dramas are commonplace on network television, the chemistry between leads Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams was what elevated the show into being one of the most smartly written programs on TV.

Now as one of USA’s staples is ready to take its final bow with the final season of the show kicking off on Wednesday, the network known for its original programming is ready to welcome its next act with Pearson, the highly-anticipated Suits spin-off.

Pearson follows disbarred New York City lawyer Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres) as she navigates her new life in Chicago. Hoping for a fresh start, it doesn’t take the former Pearson-Spectre figurehead long to get adjusted to the down and dirty politics of her new city as she lands a new gig as the fixer for Chicago Mayor Bobby Novak (Morgan Spector). Known for her win-at-all-costs attitude, Jessica must manage her innate desire to win with her compulsion to always do the right thing.

The new series features a relatively young new cast including Simon Kassianides (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Eli Goree (Riverdale), and Isabel Arraiza (The Oath).

In December, I had the chance to visit the set of Pearson, nine years after I first visited the set of its predecessor. I was excited to see if history would repeat itself. if Aaron Korsh, Daniel Arkin and Dough Liman would be able to capture the same magic and if this show would be just as well-written and produced as Suits is.

In December, I had the chance to visit the set of Pearson. It is the highly-anticipated ‘Suits’ spin-off series. While there, I caught up with Gina Torres. She talked to me about the expectations for her new show and its central themes. We discussed the differences between ‘Pearson’ and ‘Suits’ and how ‘Pearson’ is tackles timely storylines and goes beyond storylines about the 5%. We discussed Jessica’s assistant Yoli (played by Isabel Arraiza) and how the character was conceived of by Gina and all the things Yoli represents. We also discussed what the character of Jessica Pearson means to Gina Torres and where the character that originally made her debut eight years ago, will go from here.

Check out the video above!

‘Pearson’ premieres Wednesday July 17 at 10/9c on USA Network.

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.