‘Suits’: Denise Crosby Previews ‘Formidable’ Faye Taking Charge of the Firm
Q&A
Trouble is coming to the firm in the final season of Suits, and her name is Faye Richardson.
Denise Crosby is recurring as the no-nonsense representative from the New York Bar Association, and she’s going to be shaking things up at Zane Specter Litt Wheeler Williams. But you shouldn’t see her as the bad guy, even if Harvey (Gabriel Macht), Louis (Rick Hoffman), Donna (Sarah Rafferty), Samantha (Katherine Heigl), Alex (Dulé Hill), and Katrina (Amanda Schull) do.
“She’s not bad,” Crosby told TV Insider. “She’s not liked by these guys, and why would they like her? She’s coming in there busting them, but they’re the ones that are risking everything. I’m actually going to help them.”
Read on to find out what else the actress had to say about her character and Faye’s perspective on the firm and Mike Ross’ (Patrick J. Adams) return.
Can you talk about who Faye is and how much of a threat she is to the firm?
Denise Crosby: Faye Richardson has been sent by the New York Bar as what’s called a Special Master, and she is there to basically make sure they are doing an ethical practice at this point. They are just within an inch of their lives at this point. It’s like the buck stops there with Faye. She takes charge, they have nothing to say about it, and she is formidable.
(Christos Kalohoridis/USA Network)
We see her as a villain because we’ve been watching the people at this firm for going on nine years now, but she sees herself as more of a hero, right? Because it all depends on perspective.
Absolutely. She’s the one that’s actually correct and right. As the season goes on, you begin to understand where she’s coming from in this, and she’s not just there just to be rigid and play by the rules. She’s doing it because she’s seen some stuff in her life, and she knows the outcome of that and the fallout.
Before she even meets the members of the firm, what does she think of them? Does she have a negative impression of all of them because of what she knows has happened?
She does know. She’s certainly aware of stuff that’s gone down and some of the members who have been disbarred and why, that one went to jail. She’s well aware of how they’ve been able to do whatever they see fit however they get it done. She’s well aware of the firm and has pretty strong opinions about it. But again, she’s not there personally for any vendetta or anything. She’s really there because she has an ethics backbone.
Do you think that makes her more dangerous? Because if she was there for something personal, it might be easier to stop her.
Yeah, I think then you have some flaws there that you can go after. And she just doesn’t have that. She’s there really to represent the letter of the law.
What are her impressions of each member of the firm? Let’s start with Harvey.
Harvey’s the most challenging in some ways because he’s just a cowboy. He just shoots from the hip, and she knows it. They have some tough words with each other. He doesn’t like her coming in there and telling them how to run their firm. She’s onto him, and I think she feels that he’s the one that could bring down the house of cards if he keeps going like this.
(Ian Watson/USA Network)
Louis?
Louis is the first person she deals with, and he’s just got that larger than life personality, but he also sees that she’s right.
Donna?
Donna, she feels, is sort of the one that can really set things straight. She’s the voice of reason, and she needs to appeal to Donna because if this firm is going to stand at all, Donna’s going to really be the one to get to them.
Samantha?
Samantha is probably the polar opposite of Faye. Samantha’s unwilling to play by the rules, and Faye knows that, and so she’s got a really sharp eye on her.
Alex?
Alex is an ally, to a degree. I think she feels she can count on him to be reasonable.
And Katrina?
Katrina, I think, Faye sees probably as the realist in the group, that she really wants to do the right thing.
(Ian Watson/USA Network)
Are we going to see anything between Faye and Gretchen or the associates?
Yes, you’re going to see some interaction with the associates, absolutely.
Does she have any thoughts on Harvey and Donna’s personal relationship? Does it come up at all, or is she completely focused on the business side of the firm?
She doesn’t really want to get into anybody’s personal lives, but if it creates a conflict, that’s where she will make her voice heard.
You touched on this a bit earlier, but what are her thoughts on Mike Ross and everything about his situation? How much is she around when he returns?
She’s there when he returns, and she’s well aware of all of it. She doesn’t know a lot about him. You’ll see her trying to figure out and try to get information on him because he suddenly has reappeared and she didn’t see that coming. She wants information quickly, so she can assess what exactly is happening here. She’s the person that all of their cases, all of their actions at this point, have to go through her.
(Ian Watson/USA Network)
What drew you to the role? Is there anything about the character you found yourself particularly enjoying while filming that hadn’t necessarily jumped out at you before?
I had only the first episode given to me, and so as I’ve now been working on the show for the last two months, just the intensity and the depth of this character and the power that she wields over this firm. I didn’t quite see how imposing she was, so that’s been a delight, just really being a force that comes in with this powerful group of actors.
Suits, Ninth and Final Season Premiere, Wednesday, July 17, 9/8c, USA
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