Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl to join Suits as series regular after Meghan Markle's departure

Actress Katherine Heigl is on board to join the hit TV show Suits for its eighth season as a series regular. Heigl will play Samantha Wheeler, a talented new partner at Pearson Specter Litt who challenges the status quo and will either become the firm’s greatest ally or most powerful enemy, reports variety.com. She will join the series regulars Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, Rick Hoffman and Dule Hill. The new season will begin production in April in Toronto. [caption id=“attachment_4330311” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Katherine Heigl/Image from Twitter.[/caption] “Joining Suits was the perfect organic way to not only collaborate with an EP I admire deeply but to also become part of a show and cast that I am an immense fan of. I have watched Suits from the very beginning and feel incredibly lucky to be the newest member of the Pearson Specter Litt family,” Heigl said. Heigl is an Emmy Award-winning and two-time Golden Globe-nominated actress as well as a producer. She is best known for starring in the feature films 27 Dresses, Knocked Up and The Ugly Truth, which she also executive produced. She has also featured in critically acclaimed drama Grey’s Anatomy. USA Network announced on Tuesday (6 January) that the show would return for an eighth season, but without regulars Patrick J. Adams and Meghan Markle. Both will exit the series at the end of the current Season 7, with the second half set to premiere on 28 March. Series creator Aaron Korsh is also working on a spinoff centered around Gina Torres’ character Jessica Pearson.