Abigail Spencer says resurgence of Suits made her 'way more famous than I had ever been before'

The recent Suits resurgence is having a major impact on Abigail Spencer.

The actor appeared throughout the entire run of USA Network's legal drama as Scottie, a.k.a. Dana Scott, the longtime work rival/love interest to Gabriel Macht's Harvey Specter. While the show originally ran from 2011 to 2019, it recently gained new, viral popularity in 2023 when the first eight seasons became available to stream on Netflix (the ninth and final season — as well as short-lived spinoff Pearson — is only available on Peacock). It went on to unexpectedly break streaming records and top Nielsen's streaming charts for months on end, and Spencer has noticed a real "shift" in her life because of it.

"I'm just so grateful, and what a surprise, because I was in Europe this summer and I was way more famous than I had ever been before," she said on SiriusXM’s "The Jess Cagle Show" while promoting her new series Extended Family. "I was like, 'Wow. Europe loves me.'"

She added that she "had no idea when it was happening" that it was because of Netflix adding Suits to its streaming library. "I would walk through the streets of Biarritz or Paris or, I mean, I'd be in Spain — I spent the whole summer in Europe, so I'm not like name-dropping Europe stuff — I just was there, but everywhere I went it was like, 'Abigail Spencer. Abigail Spencer,' and all my friends were like, 'When did you get so famous?' and I was like, 'I don't know.'"

The actor explains that she "hadn't finished shooting" her new project yet, which is why she "was so confused."

"And then, yeah, I'm on a text chain with the whole Suits team and got the message that I think 45 billion minutes of downloads [happened] just over the summer, and that was pretty shocking," Spencer continued. "Because it was during the strike, we couldn't promote it. We couldn't talk about it. We couldn't say anything about it as well... It was so organic, but man, I really felt the shift. Really and truly, and it still is the No. 1 show."

As for why Suits is all of a sudden more popular than it ever was while it was airing? "I think it's layered," Spencer said. "I think there's several different things and also Meghan [Markle]'s loveliness, that everyone is aware of her and her being on the show and going back to that and their documentary that came out. If you watch that, then obviously there's a Netflix algorithm around that. But also during the strike, there wasn't anything else. Netflix repositioned it ... when other things aren't being made. It commands your attention, but it has to be great for people to watch it."

Spencer remembered how she was only supposed to appear in one episode of Suits, but creator Aaron Korsh kept inviting her back. "We did the one episode," she said. "And then when Aaron asked me to come back again and again and again, that was just a real delight... It was just this beautiful thing that we got to make in Toronto, and I came in and out over the nine seasons, and then the show ends and three years later, Netflix repositions it and I just know it was so addictive. It was such a good show and I think also it goes down easy. It's beautiful. I think it also speaks to what people are really wanting to watch and see right now."

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