Suits LA Creator Aaron Korsh Recalls the ‘Great Experience’ of Working with Late ‘Icon’ John Amos in His Final Onscreen Role (Exclusive)

Suits LA creator Aaron Korsh is recalling the “great experience” of working with the late icon John Amos in the series’ premiere episode.

While speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at the Los Angeles premiere of the show on Thursday, Feb. 20, Korsh — who also created the original Suits — described working with Amos as “amazing.”

“I’m of the age where he was a huge, iconic figure for me as a child. So when I meet someone like that, I think of what would 10, 11, 12, 7-year-old me think of this? And it was amazing,” he says. “He was an amazing guy, and it was such a great experience.”

Korsh, 58, went on to share that Amos’ 2024 death “affected” him — explaining that he ultimately decided to incorporate his emotions into the upcoming season. The Suits LA protagonist, Ted Black (Stephen Amell), is a former federal prosecutor who relocates to L.A. to represent high-powered Hollywood clients — including Amos, who plays himself, in the pilot episode.

“I thought if [Amos’ death is affecting] me, it would affect Ted Black a hell of a lot more than me since I only met him once and Ted had known him for 20 years,” Korsh tells PEOPLE. “So, we actually wrote […] his passing into an episode and we’re going to dedicate the episode to him.”

“He’s an icon, and we wanted to give him a proper goodbye,” he adds.

Amos first rose to fame playing the older version of Kunta Kinte in the groundbreaking miniseries Roots in 1977. The series marked the first mainstream depiction of American slavery from the perspective of the slaves themselves and broke major viewership records at the time.

Amos later appeared as a series regular on the famed Mary Tyler Moore Show, as well in such other iconic projects as Coming to America and The West Wing.

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Suits LA was Amos’ last onscreen performance before the actor died of congestive heart failure at the age of 84 in Inglewood, Calif., on Aug. 21, 2024. Amos’ son, Kelly Christopher Amos, confirmed the Emmy-nominated actor’s passing two months later in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Oct. 1. 

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share with you that my father has transitioned,” he wrote. “He was a man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold… and he was loved the world over.”

Suits L.A. premieres Feb. 23 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC and will be available on Peacock the next day.