-Welcome to the show. -Thank you.
So happy to be here.
I have been a fan of yours for such a long time.
I don't know if you know this, but Suits
was huge in South Africa.
All of my friends and I would watch it together.
We'd argue, acting like we're lawyers when we know nothing.
We'd be like, "What do you think about the merits of this case?"
-We knew no merits, no anything. -It's all right.
So were the actors on the show, we knew nothing.
-We just-- it was good. -I feel like you did, though.
You played that character for so many years,
and people loved you in that role so much,
that now your character, Jessica,
-has moved on to a spin-off show. -Yes.
Which is really exciting. Congratulations.
Thank you, thank you so much.
-Thank you. Yes. -(cheers and applause)
Yes.
Let me ask you this question.
Why do you think Jessica,
just, like, resonated with people in a way
where audiences and networks were like,
"No, she needs to have her own show"?
Oh, my God, how often do you get an example of a woman
that just typifies excellence?
-Right. -Everything about her was impeccable.
She had a Harvard law degree.
She was the smartest person in the room.
She knew how to get things done.
She dressed, like, for... for the masses.
I mean, just-- I mean, she was ridiculously perfect.
And she was fearless.
And so, people want to be that.
And the fact that it was this person...
-Yes. -(laughs)
(cheers and applause)
This-- this woman...
She's a woman, she's a woman of color,
and that was the lowest thing on the list.
She never led with that.
-She always led with her intelligence. -Right.
Her integrity.
Her balls. (laughs)
It... It-It really,
it really was one of the aspects of the character
that-that really resonated with people was it--
You know, it was an image that not many people get to see.
-No. -It was just, like, a powerful black woman
-who wasn't defined by just like the color of her skin. -Yes.
It was, like, part of what made her, but not what defined her.
-Absolutely. -And we're seeing that in this new character
that you're playing because Jessica's now in a new world.
-She's in Chicago, but in politics now. -Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Why Chicago, why politics?
Chicago is this microcosm
of what's going on on a national level,
-and-and to some degree, on a global level. -Right.
We-- There's everything there.
There's-- there's political corruptness,
there's gang violence, there's immigration issues.
There's an incredible and growing disparity
between, um, not just the races,
but, also, on a socioeconomic level.
And so we just chip away at it.
And it's-it's an interesting hotbed
to have her live in, because, you know,
-we've seen your character as a strict lawyer, -Mm-hmm.
-you know, just the law and the facts. -Yes.
But politics is all about emotion, you know.
It's policy but it's the emotion that comes with that.
And what's interesting about the show is
we don't know if we like or hate
what your character is doing throughout the show,
because she, like, you know, she keeps that barrier up.
-Was that purposefully created? -Absolutely.
Well, it was part and parcel
what made Jessica so interesting.
-She was quite an enigma in Suits. -Right. Right.
And you never really knew where she was gonna from
because she was always seven steps ahead of everybody else.
Um, we-- For those who love Jessica,
don't worry, we got you.
She's still very much Jessica Pearson,
the Jessica that you know, she's very present.
-But now you get to see the whole woman. -Yes.
You get to see what motivates her
on a personal level.
You get to see what motivates her on a professional level.
Is she power hungry? Really?
Or is she now at a place in her life
where she's using her powers
mostly for good and not evil.
It feels like, in many ways, you share a lot of the drive
that Jessica, your character, does.
Because, I mean, here you are in a position
where you're executive producing the show.
You know, you've been staffing the writers' room.
You've been at the forefront of saying,
"Hey, I want this show and its creators
-to represent the people in the show." -Mm-hmm.
You know, where you've said, "It's not tokenism.
-"I want real diversity on the show. -Yes.
"I want black and white.
I want Afro-Latina," which has been very important to you.
-Why? -Yes.
Because who else is going to tell our stories if not us?
We have been...
(cheers and applause)
For years, for decades,
we have been watching ourselves
through the lens of white writers,
of white, male writers.
-That's just... (laughs) -(audience reacts)
And they don't get it right a lot of the time.
-Quite frankly. -(laughter)
Even the best of them are just,
"Well, can you..." And you kind of--
And there have been a couple of times when we were doing Suits
where I'd have to talk to the writer and say,
-"If we're gonna go there, then go there." -Wow.
Don't just, you know, say that you went there
because you stepped in the doorway.
Go in the door. Open up a window.
-Sit in the room. -Right.
And stay there for a minute.
-(cheers and applause) -Um...
And so that's what we're doing.
We're going through the door.
If you look at Jessica's journey, we've seen her in law,
we've seen her now consulting in politics.
Do you think that one day she would run for office
as president of the United States?
(laughs)
It would be her time, wouldn't it?
-It definitely would. -Well, stay tuned. We'll see.
Thank you so much for being on the show.
Wonderful having you here.
Pearson airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on USA Network.
Gina Torres, everybody.