Why Ted Black From Suits LA Looks So Familiar

When it comes to ruling the roost, former do-gooding New Yorker prosecutor Ted Black (Stephen Amell) definitely knows how to reign. Newly established in Los Angeles, Black now finds himself heading a firm that's reached a breaking point, split between celebrity and criminal law. He must be bold, cocky, and confident to win the day — even if that means dealing with the low-down dirty side of things. Los Angeles is definitely not New York, and Ted's going to have to cope with that if he wants to win. 

Stephen Amell is the Arrowverse star who's been tapped to headline "Suits L.A." and fill up Ted's fancy duds. Amell's resume may not be long, but it's utterly filled with a whole lot of variety. From a kind himbo goalie and an ambitious male escort to a beloved comic book character and an independent wrestler trying to make his way through the independent circuit, here's why Ted's actor might seem familiar to you.

Canada native Stephen Amell's first major role was in the three-season long sitcom "Rent-A-Goalie," where he played the talented, sweet, but very dim Billy. He's billed second in the sitcom's opening credits after picking up a number of smaller roles in shows like "Queer as Folk" and "Beautiful People."  

In the same spirit as laddish shows like "Blue Mountain State," "Rent-a-Goalie" is all about Cake (Christopher Bolton), an ambitious man who starts the titular program, vowing that he can get a goaltender to a game in seconds flat. This earns him the approval of colleagues and even a few celebrities, but he has an extremely messy love life and a bedroom with an open door policy, which gets him into nothing but trouble. Billy is a friend and employee, but also sometimes a rival in love, for Cake, and appears in eighteen episodes before the show went off the air. 

Another of Stephen Amell's famous himbos, Jason from "Hung" provided him with an international breakthrough hit and made him a series regular during its third season. Unfortunately, it was cancelled and Season 4 was never greenlit, leaving every character's fate hanging in the balance. 

Jason is introduced as a spoiler for Ray Drecker (Thomas Jane), a man driven to sex work after a fire at his childhood home requires cash his career as a high school basketball coach can't cover. His well-sized anatomical equipment makes him a popular stud among his neighborhood's women. But Jason provides a service Ray isn't interested in serving up — sex with other cis men. Teaming with one of Ray's former pimps, a life coach named Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff), they take on Ray and his current pimp Tanya (Jane Adams) for clients and turf. 

Amell admitted to diving into the part whole-hog, but the audition to get there was kinda awkward. "The most awkward thing from 'Hung' is that in my audition, in a boardroom with a lot of executives watching, I had to simulate sex with a someone that I've just met for the first time. Once I got through that, I could get through anything," he confessed to E! News. He even avoided telling his family about the role, he admitted to US Weekly. Fortunately for them, his subsequent roles have been more thoroughly clothed. 

If audiences know Stephen Amell from anything, it's likely from his appearance as hotshot superhero and billionaire Oliver Queen in "Arrow" and the CW's many DC superhero series. Playing Oliver helped make Amell's name, even though it led to backstage controversy. 

For eight seasons, Amell's Oliver Queen donned green, fought crime from the shadows before running for mayor, and fell in love with Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).Complicated time shenanigans thwarted Oliver's happiness, and he ultimately agreed to become Specter to end an upcoming apocalypse. The show spawned a strong cult following on the internet, but even Amell himself admitted he became overinvolved in the show's online fandom. Rumors of bad behavior from Amell on set also abounded. Years later, Amell reflected on his actions to Variety while talking up the upcoming debut of "Suits L.A.," saying, "I was never a monster. I was never disrespectful — but I had a short fuse. And you learn as you go."

Stephen Amell also made his mark on Paramount's live-action take on the adventures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Amell plays the hockey-mask-wearing Casey Jones in the film, who is a corrections officer in this universe. He teams up with April O'Neil (Megan Fox) and Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett) as well as the young heroes on the half shell to defeat Shredder and his Foot Clan before they can take over the world. As in many versions of this turtle tale, April and Casey have a growing attraction to for one another.

Casey is Amell's first major part in a feature film, and though this one ultimately flopped, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows" contained many an awesome moment. It also showed that Amell has enough charisma to carry an action flick. That was knowledge he used while making two back-to-back science-fiction action pieces — which also happen to feature his real-life cousin.

While "Arrow" finished out its final seasons, Stephen Amell leapt into the producing side of things and created a duology that would debut on Netflix and become enough of a sensation to get a sequel.

"Code 8" and "Code 8: Part 2" co-star Amell and his cousin, Robbie. Robbie plays Connor Reed, a man gifted with electrokinetic powers. People like Connor are supposed to register their abilities, but he has not — instead, to support his ill mother, he works an underground day job. One day, Garrett (Stephen Amell) convinces Garrett to do odd jobs for Marcus Sutcliff (Greg Bryk) using his powers to pull off robberies. He soon finds himself caught between his own morality and his pocketbook.

The first "Code 8" film finishes up in an open-ended way, as it was followed by a short film on Quibi, then a complete cinematic sequel. "Code 8: Part II" catches up with Connor five years down the road. He's in hiding as a janitor, but is sucked back into the drama surrounding the LCPD. Amell's straight-to-Netflix series is an undeniable hit that helped springboard him to his next step.

Stephen Amell is a huge wrestling fan and even took part in a storyline for the WWE, wrestling for the WWE and competitor AEW, so perhaps it's not surprising that he co-produced a family drama about the sport. "Heels" lasted for two seasons on Starz, giving a brief look into the politics of a small-town wrestling promotion. Amell plays elder Spade brother Jack, who is a titular heel, or wrestling villain. Alexander Ludwig is Ace, Jack's brother and a babyface or good guy. In real life, the Spades each have a share in the Duffy Wrestling League, established by their late father. Complications naturally ensue, as the boys argue over the direction of the company and their characters while trying to keep their employees in line and persuing their own wrestling dreams. 

While this was clearly a passion project for Amell, who also co-executive produced, Starz cancelled the show after two seasons. He did his own wrestling for the show, which apparently led to issues when he broke his back, per an appearance on Busted Open Radio, while filming one scene. "We did the first take, and I did fine. I was supposed to do the coast-to-coast, drag the guy out into the center of the ring, cover him for the one-two-three, but I didn't clear as much of the ring as I wanted to, so I did it again. Unbelievably, I did it again. This time I went too far and basically landed at a 90-degree angle, sitting up and down. I had a compression fracture to my T10 and L1 ... on our first day of wrestling," Amell explained. On top of that, he drew criticism for comments made during the SAG-AFTRA strikes. The series was moved to Netflix in the hope of gaining more attention and a third season, neither of which has materialized. Until then, "Suits: L.A." will provide Amell with all the action he could ever want.