'Suits' actor Patrick J. Adams recalls mental health struggle leading to early exit in show: 'I was drinking too much'
American actor Patrick J. Adams, who is best known for his role in the legal drama series Suits, opened up about his struggle with mental health and alcohol abuse during the time when he left the seventh season of the show.
In an interview with Jesse Tyler Ferguson on the Nov. 26 episode of Ferguson’s "Dinner’s on Me" podcast, Adams shared that he decided to step away from the series after seven seasons because he "wasn’t taking good care" of his mental health.
"I was drinking too much come the end of the seventh season. I was in a zone of living a pretty unexamined life. Pretty miserable and I would say, pretty depressed," he said.
"I didn’t have the tools to deal with that depression beyond just spending money and drinking too much, and not really knowing how to talk about it," he added.
Adams shared that he would "numb" himself in order to overcome his insecurity and fears, but that this ultimately proved futile in helping himself to get better.
He finally found his resolve to get over his alcohol abuse when he saw what his addiction was doing to his loved ones, particularly to his daughters with actress Troian Bellisario, Aurora and Elliot.
"They were taking a toll on my relationship, for sure, but also just making me a very not present father. That for me was a breaking point when I was like, 'I think I should stop drinking probably, because I don’t wanna be that dad,'" Adams said.
"The best thing I think I ever did for myself was stop drinking. It just needed to happen in order for all these other things to happen," he highlighted.
In Suits, Adams plays as a college dropout turned unlicensed lawyer named Mike Ross. By the end of Season 7, Mike marries Meghan Markle's character Rachel Zane and became largely absent for the final two seasons of the show.
Adams eventually reprised his role for a short while in Season 9. He admitted to Ferguson that the reason for his decision to return to the show was for the money.
"The only reason to stay was … money. I didn’t know what else to offer. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and think about the money [my co-star Gabriel Macht] made those last two years, but I never regretted the decision for a second. It was the right thing for my marriage," he said.
Adams has been married to Bellisario, who stars in Pretty Little Liars, since 2016. They welcomed Aurora in 2018 and Elliot in 2021.
Apart from Suits, he has also made appearances in other popular television shows such as Pretty Little Liars and Lost. It's unknown whether he will reprise his role as Mike Ross in the show's upcoming spin-off Suits: L.A., which was developed after the original received an immense surge in popularity when it was added on Netflix in 2023. Meanwhile, Macht has seemingly confirmed via a video that he will be returning as Harvey Specter in the spin-off.
