Lex Scott Davis on Joining the Suits Universe and Her Character's Iconic Wardrobe

When law drama Suits dropped on Netflix in 2023—four years after ending its nine-season run on USA Network—it had a massive second wind to the tune of 57.5 billion minutes watched, according to Nielsen ratings. The show smashed records for months on end, becoming both a pop culture phenomenon and the most viewed series on streaming that year, an impressive feat to be sure. A spin-off was inevitable.

Like most of us, actress Lex Scott Davis (Ricky Stanicky and Florida Man) joined the Suits fan club via its Netflix resurgence. When an audition for Suits LA, NBC's spin-off set against the high-stakes world of entertainment law, came her way, she turned on the pilot to get a sense of the world and tone in preparation. One episode quickly turned into two and then three, and instead of studying her lines, she went down a rabbit hole, devouring the entire first season.

The key to Suits' wild success, Scott Davis believes, is its character-driven storytelling. You can't help but become invested in its group of attractive, power-hungry lawyers playing the game of corporate chess. Suits LA aims to achieve that same fervor with an all-new group of ambitious lawyers led by Ted Black (Stephen Amell), a former New York federal prosecutor who moves to Los Angeles to escape his past and reinvent himself as a powerful entertainment lawyer. With him are Stuart Lane (Josh McDermitt)—Black's best friend and longtime business partner and a criminal lawyer—and their promising protégés Rick Dodsen (Bryan Greenberg) and Erica Rollins (Scott Davis), who are battling out for the coveted "head of entertainment" title. A mix of juicy drama, sexual tension, and notable cameos (see: Victoria Justice and Brian Baumgartner) make this expanded world a delightfully fun watch.

Just as we loved Gina Torres as Suits powerhouse Jessica Pearson, Scott Davis is a standout in the Suits LA boys club—in Tom Ford and Valentino, no less.

How did you first hear they were making a Suits spin-off?

We're professional auditioners, actors. We're auditioning more than we're working, and this, like any other audition, came through my team. They were like, "You've heard of Suits, right? They're bringing it back. They're doing a spin-off." I was like, "Okay, when's the tape due? How many pages?" They ended up calling me to sit down and meet Aaron [Korsh], the creator, and the producer Dave Bartis and with casting in person, and that's rare. So that in itself was amazing. Self-tapes are great, and I know the world has changed post-COVID and everything, but I like to have a live audience. That's part of being a performer.

I will never forget. When I showed up to the audition, I went into the room, and everyone was warm, but it was very poker face at first. I sat in a chair, and to break the ice, I was like, "I'm just so happy that we're here in person. Thank you guys for showing up to work today. This is amazing. This is a dream for me." The audition process lasted a while. We really got in there and played with so many different variations of this character and so many different variations of the scene, so it was pretty extensive. … Altogether, I ended up going back in four times total, and all of the processes were the same of let's mold, let's shape, let's build, let's work together, let's find things, and that's a dream come true for an actor. I had a great time from the very start of it.

Do you have a sense of when you nail an audition in a room?

It's funny because yes and no. I'm a positive Patty out of everybody, so the first audition, it was like the win already happened. I got to go in there, I got to meet people, and I got to vibe. That's all I needed that day. I left and carried on about my day. When I got the callback, I met Victoria Mahoney, who directed the pilot, and that was also very good and very interesting and very different, but there was an obvious connection. That second one, when I left, I actually took a selfie outside of the office we were casting in because I wanted to remember that moment, and I do think that was the moment I knew that I got it. It's funny because that picture popped up as a reminder of one year ago today a few weeks ago. I was like, "Oh, there it is." That was the moment where instinctually I knew something was brewing and it was mine.

You play Erica Rollins, who is vying for the head of entertainment title at Black Lane. As an actor, you have entertainment lawyers on your team, so it's something you're familiar with. Can you tell me about the research you did for the role and some of your inspirations for her?

The great thing here is I've played a lawyer twice before, and this one, because it's entertainment law, it's not too heavy on the legalese and all of the textbook things that you probably would want to know going into it. My research and me figuring out who she is has come from observation of other powerhouse women in my life. I also observed Pearson in the original [Suits] and what Gina Torres brought to that character.

But I was inspired by women that I know. My mom, for example, was a paralegal before I was born and has worked her way up and is still at the same law office today, so I understand the world from her. I also understand the world as an actor having entertainment lawyers as part of my team, so it wasn't too hard to pull from. Just on a character level, on a personality level, I like to think that [Erica and I are] very different, but there are things that I can relate to as Lex that are in Erica. So [I'm] leaning into any truth I can find from my own life experiences. Being in a workspace that is male dominant and wanting to have a voice, things like that I can relate to.

Has anything surprised you about the entertainment law side of the business?

I think what surprises me constantly when we get these new scripts is how funny and chill everything also can be. There's such a corporate side of it that is a little more stiff, but there's also a side of it that's swaggered. It's bada boom, bada bing. We have fun, we make jokes, we throw jabs, and it's all an understanding. There's this other side of it that doesn't have to be super-stuffy law graduate. We get to have fun with the type of deals we're talking about. These are major motion picture deals—that's fun! It's nothing life or death, but I think that's the part that's fun and surprising to me because I'm learning about what my real entertainment lawyers do on my behalf as talent through this character exploration, which is also really cool and unique.

What do you admire about how Erica navigates and finds success in this male-dominated world she's in?

I admire her confidence. It's the kind of confidence that doesn't need to necessarily rub people the wrong way. There's a balance that she finds with owning and knowing her greatness, but she also can see that greatness in other people around her, where she wants to still learn and evolve, which is a really beautiful relationship we see develop with Leah, her assistant. Erica is who she is, and yet she can still ask someone like Leah for guidance in a specific area. I like that. I think that's important for all of us to navigate this world and to become our best selves. You shouldn't feel like you've reached your cap, and that's it. You know it. It's the end-all, be-all. We're constantly sponges. We're constantly students of our craft, so I love that she can balance the confidence with the eagerness to become better and to learn from her surroundings.

I really like the dynamic between Erica and Leah. Like you said, they can both teach each other things. What can we expect from that relationship as the season goes on?

We can expect it to grow in an unexpected way, which is still a surprise for me as I continue to read [scripts]. Everyone's on their own journey, and it's this question that I have as the actor, but also, I know the audience will have it too. … [Leah] has these two paths of being loyal to one thing, being loyal to Black Lane and being loyal to Erica, but then she also has this inner voice that's telling her that maybe she should go a different direction. Erica is this person in the middle of those two paths being like, "Whatever you decide is gonna be for you, but if you decide the other thing, get out of my way." So it's a very honest relationship that they have. I like how blunt Erica is with Leah because I think there's a little bit of Leah that Erica recognizes in herself too. … Although they are very different people, they're very different kinds of girls, she understands the plight of Leah and just wants to give her the same tough love that she received as an associate coming up in the firm.

There's another fun dynamic between Erica and Rick, who are vying for the same title. It's a good old-fashioned rivalry with some sexual tension in the mix. Can you talk about playing that out with Bryan Greenberg?

Bryan and I, we clicked from our chemistry read in the audition process. A lot of the work we did in the room, I think, is reflected in what made it to screen. You can see that we spent time developing this backstory prior to day one of shooting, which makes it very easy to show up on set. Our stuff is very fluid. We love banter. We love improvising and filling in the blanks and leaning into the flirtatiousness and also keeping people unsure of what their relationship is. Will they or won't they or did they? We love playing all of the colors. He's such an outstanding actor and a wonderful scene partner that I feel very comfortable working with him. It's second nature. I don't think he has to reach far to become Rick, which is also cool to see. He has a swagger about him that makes my job easy.

Erica is a lesson in modern power dressing. Can you tell me a bit about the thinking behind her style and how it reflects her journey at the firm?

Let me say, her style is continuing to evolve. When I came into it, I thought I'd be very feminine at the top and then, once I received this new position, step into the masculine side of my closet, wearing more pantsuits and things like that. But as we continue, I'm realizing that it's actually all-encompassing. It's a very expensive taste, but [there are] some times where she leans into her feminine side, and [there are] some times where she leans into her more dominant side, and she plays ball with the figures in the office. We definitely always talk about it. There's the current exploration of color and going from black, white, and gray to incorporating more color as the season goes on as well, which enhances the themes of her development and her comfort and just being who she is unapologetically.

I'm enjoying the process of continuing to evolve this closet of hers. It's outstanding. No matter what we put on, it's beautiful. It's iconic. I'm having a lot of fun dressing with her. I'm so different from Erica. As you can see, I'm very baggy, and I like streetwear, so there's something about stepping in the shoes that flips the switch for me, that I really do become Erica. She's a woman, and she makes sure everyone in the room knows it. When she speaks, you listen. When she walks by, you see her. I like that the wardrobe is enhancing that.

It's amazing how clothes can really change so much about how you carry yourself in a lot of ways.

To your point too, we always have shoes to change out of to make sure we're comfortable. We have my comfort flats, and we have my comfort heights, so when the camera is not on our feet, I'm always given the option, Do you want your comfort heights? Sometimes, the comfort heights are like wedges that I wouldn't be caught dead in. But they're always offered to me if my feet aren't going to be on camera, but sometimes, I'm like, "No, I actually want to stay in the uncomfortable Valentino. I actually need to be in this Tom Ford because it's doing something for me. It's enhancing how I walk into the scene. It's enhancing how I lean into my hip and all the things." So I do need the right shoes sometimes, depending on what the scene is. If I'm in a scene with Rick, you're not catching me in my comfort heights. We're wearing real heels at all times because it's different!

Catch all-new episodes of Suits LA Sundays on NBC at 9 p.m.