Suits’ Harvey Wasn’t Supposed to End Up With Donna, According to Showrunner
Harvey's romantic endgame was supposed to be the character with a name similar to Donna's.
For nine years, Suits was one of the most popular shows on the USA Network. Attention to the project only increased when Meghan Markle, who played the role of Mike Ross' girlfriend, started an affair with Prince Harry.
But fans of the series were far from following this romance – the viewers were mostly concerned about whether Harvey and Donna would be able to build a strong relationship and stay together.
In the end, the characters not only built successful careers, but also found happiness in their personal lives. Harvey and Donna decided to get married and moved to Seattle to work with Mike and Rachel.
However, series creator Aaron Korsh admitted that this was not the original plan, and according to his idea, Harvey should have stayed with another character. In response to a fan's question about whether he considered making Abigail Spencer’s character, Dana Scott, Harvey’s final partner, the showrunner had this to say:
“That was sort of my original idea when she was introduced.”
Dana first appeared in the middle of season 1 and was Harvey's former classmate from Harvard. The two began a relationship early in the season when Dana joined Pearson Specter as a senior partner. However, everything fell apart when Harvey's loyalty to Mike Ross came between them.
Despite Harvey's long relationship with Dana, the romance with Donna came as no surprise to fans – there was always chemistry and understanding between the characters, and Harvey always treated Donna as an equal, despite the fact that she was his secretary.
By the way, it was the Harvey actor, Gabriel Macht, who recommended Sarah Rafferty for the role of Donna.
At the beginning of filming, the actors joked about how embarrassing it would be if their characters were forced to play a romantic couple. Well, maybe thoughts have a tendency to materialize: in season 7, Harvey and Donna grew close, which eventually led to their marriage.
Source: Aaron Korsh on X (formerly known as Twitter)