Patrick J. Adams recalls first visit to Phl

The Philippines is not new to Patrick J. Adams, the Canadian actor who plays Mike Ross, described as “a brilliant young college dropout” who teams up with Manhattan’s best lawyer named Harvey Specter (played by Gabriel Macht) in Jack TV’s hot legal drama Suits (airing Wednesday nights at 9).

“I’ve been to Cebu before,” Patrick recalled to Funfare in a one-on-one yesterday at Marriott Hotel where he and his actress-girlfriend are billeted. “We came here for a vacation when I was about 16. I have some family who lives in Hong Kong so I’ve also been there a few times. Asia is a familiar territory to me.”

That was years ago and what Patrick fondly remembered were the people.

“I was really taken by the people’s warmth and kindness. We went scuba-diving for the first time and it was a beautiful experience. I remember going around the place and was a bit shocked by what I saw — the poor and the wealthy living right next to each other. I kind of appreciated that even if it was overwhelming. We went to the market and we were greeted by happy smiles, with people probably wondering what brought white Canadians there. It was a great trip as a whole.”

Asked if he’s close to any Filipino, maybe an actor like him, Patrick revealed, “Filipinos are everywhere; there are many of them in Toronto where I come from. Yes, I do have a good friend in LA, he’s Filipino who has some family here in Manila. Anyone I’ve met from the Philippines has always been so warm and so nice, just like Canadians. Filipinos and Canadians are very good people.”

Patrick is here to drum up for Suits which is into its second season with each episode more suspenseful as televiewers are kept on guessing what secret the characters Mike Ross and Harvey Specter are sharing and hiding at all costs. Clue: Between the two of them, only one has a law degree. According to the press kit, Mike’s eidetic memory and gentle heart make him one of the firm’s best first-year associates, but how come he lives in constant fear that somebody may uncover his secret? Stay tuned.

Is he planning to revisit the places he’s been to during his first trip here?

“I’d love to but Cebu is too far. Besides, we don’t have enough time. But we might go to a beach and wind up there, just sit there and stay in the water for a while.”

Back to Suits.

Patrick (third from right) and Gabriel Macht (third from left) with the other stars of Suits in which they play a winning team for a law firm ”

What does he find interesting in Mike Ross, admittedly an intriguing character?

“I was intrigued by his honesty about his situation. I realize that the most heroic thing that a person can do is to sort of admit that he’s at the bottom of the barrel, that he needs some help. At the start of the show, Mike Ross has been denying that and trying to pretend that everything was okay, until…well, I guess you should know if you’ve been following the series.”

If he were a lawyer in real life (he has a degree in Theater from the University of Southern California), what type would he be…civil, litigation, criminal or corporate?

Patrick smiled. “Ahh, I would probably be a civil pro-bono lawyer. I think some people think they can manipulate the law and make money by doing it, or pass through legislation that can mean towards helping people with money, so if I were a lawyer I would stay away from that as a pro-bono lawyer helping people with no money. And if I were a corporate lawyer, I would be chasing after people manipulating the law.”

Before immersing himself in the Mike Ross character, Patrick said that he consulted his friend who’s a very powerful corporate lawyer.

“The one thing that is clear is that you have to be wicked smart to be an effective lawyer. You need to be passionate about the job.”

Mike Ross is described as having an “eidetic” memory. (Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition: eidetic, adj., marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall esp. of visual images…)

Is Patrick as nearly “eidetic” as Mike Ross?

“I doubt it. You know, the thing I like about Mike Ross is that he’s very street-smart, he’s savvy, he doesn’t have any increased I.Q. over anybody else, he just has the ability to retain information and as a result he can use it in his job. He’s the guy who didn’t have to have any number on his celfone because he could remember them all.”

Mike Ross is noted for delivering witty lines. Any such line that sticks to Patrick’s memory?

“There’s that line addressed to Harvey that went, I’m not just trying to figure out what kind of lawyer I wanna be, I’m just trying to figure out what kind of person I wanna be. I really like that line. It’s a perfect indication of what kind of journey Mike Ross is taking in his life.”

In the TV series Luck, Patrick had a chance of working with Dustin Hoffman. So how was it working with the man?

“It was one of the greatest gifts of my life as an actor. What did I learn from him? I learned to always maintain a sense of child-like wonder in everything. Dustin is not a young man and he has been doing this for a long time and he could very easily just not be interested anymore. To watch him on the set interact creatively with the material and with the people, it was like watching a little kid playing with something. He just loves it; he loves pushing buttons and trying something new, he was totally engaged by that. To see a man of success being that excited about the work still, it was such an inspiration. I’ve seen all of his movies, from The Graduate to Rain Man to Kramer vs Kramer. He didn’t make anybody feel that he’s that big a star at all.”

Incidentally, given a choice, what other character in Suits would he love to play?

Patrick broke into a wide smile.

“Yes, Louis Litt (played by Rick Hoffman). He’s my favorite character. I love Louis Litt. I just think he’s the most fascinating character on the show. You know, he’s somebody that you want to hate so badly and somehow during the course of the season you kind of just start falling in love with him. I wouldn’t want to play Louis Litt because I can never do it better than Rick does.”

(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)