Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer season 4.

One of the biggest appeals of The Lincoln Lawyer is actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who balances the rugged, rule-bending side of the character with the charming and funny family man. Garcia-Rulfo’s Mickey is very different from Matthew McConaughey’s version of the character, and there’s a lot of great things to take from both versions. However, McConaughey’s casting made a significant change to the Lincoln Lawyer books, and Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s casting prevented the show from replicating the issue.

Logan Marshall-Green Was Originally Supposed To Play Mickey When The Lincoln Lawyer Was Being Developed By CBS

The Lincoln Lawyer Would Have Been Very Different With Logan Marshall-Green As The Lead

Although Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has won the hearts of The Lincoln Lawyer fans for his earnest and sharp version of Mickey Haller, he wasn’t the original actor tapped to play the character in the TV show. Before the pandemic hit, CBS was full steam ahead with plans to put out David E. Kelley’s adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer. According to Deadline, the producers even had their Mickey Haller cast – Logan Marshall-Green. The actor, who is best known for his roles in The Invitation and Carry-On, signed onto the project after weeks of negotiation.

Logan Marshall-Green’s performance in the CBS show would have continued the trend of The Lincoln Lawyer adaptations casting a non-Latin actor in the role of a Latin character. Matthew McConaughey is undeniably great, and he gives a fun performance as Mickey in the 2011 Lincoln Lawyer movie. However, his casting completely ignored the fact that Mickey Haller is a Mexican-American, as did Marshall-Green’s casting. Luckily, in 2020, CBS canceled plans to release an adaptation of The Lincoln Lawyer, allowing it to move to Netflix with a new actor as Mickey Haller.

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Actually Reflected Mickey's Mexican-American Book Description

Mickey Haller Was Always Meant To Be Mexican-American

Since Matthew McConaughey took on the role of Mickey, many fans have mistakenly believed that Mickey is Irish-American and from the US South. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In Michael Connelly’s book series, Mickey Haller is a Latin man with dark hair whose mother is from Mexico and whose father is from the USA.

Garcia-Rulfo is a Mexican actor who spent time in both Mexico and the USA while growing up.

In The Fifth Witness, Mickey explains that “My mother’s genes made me look more south of the border than north.” Additionally, he had connections to her culture and language, according to Connelly’s books. An example of this is when Mickey says, “My mother was Mexican born, and I understood her native language better than I ever let on. When Mrs. Pena responded, I knew what she said – the gist of it, at least. But I let Rojas translate…” Considering Mickey’s dad died when he was young, it makes sense that he would connect to his mother’s Mexican lineage.

Connelly told Netflix that he was thrilled to learn that the show would stay true to the ethnicity and race of Mickey Haller from the book. In keeping with the original character, they brought on Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey. This choice was one step better than just choosing a Latin actor without regard to their specific lineage. Garcia-Rulfo is a Mexican actor who spent time in both Mexico and the USA while growing up. His first language is Spanish, but he also speaks English. As such, he's the closest the actors have come to being accurate to Mickey's book background.

As of the time of writing, The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 does not have a release date, yet. However, filming began on February 7, 2025, and is expected to end in June 2025.

Mickey's Mexican Heritage Plays An Important Role In His TV Story

The Lincoln Lawyer Is Beautifully & Unapologetically Latin

In Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey’s Mexican heritage plays an integral role in the story, shaping everything from his food choices to his speaking in both Spanish and English. Additionally, The Lincoln Lawyer is an unapologetically Latin story in the broader scope of the setting. Rather than whitewashing Los Angeles, The Lincoln Lawyer depicts the City of Angels as multicultural, giving special attention to the large Latin population. When I interviewed co-showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez about The Lincoln Lawyer season 4, she explained how important it was to her that they depict the diversity of the Latin community. She said this:

“It's one of my favorite things about the show is that we're able to tell not only a story about Mickey Haller being Latino and living in LA, but LA being a very Latine city. It's almost 50% Latino. And so, to me, it was very important, and we do it a lot in season 2. We also do it in season 3 because Michael Erbe is Afro-Latino and Yaya is Afro-Latina, and we have other characters that are Latino on the show.

To me, it's very important that we show all aspects of Latinos and embrace that part of LA and not just Mexican. Everybody lives in LA, and whether they speak Spanish or they don't speak Spanish, or they have an accent, or they don't have an accent, do you know what I mean? All of it, because we're not a monolith.”

Ultimately, this approach to casting and telling the story pays off. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo’s performance as Mickey Haller feels like it comes from a deeply authentic and meaningful place. On top of that, the way they depict the Latin population in Los Angeles in The Lincoln Lawyer is deeply enjoyable. I'm just grateful that the show went in a different direction than expected when The Lincoln Lawyer was going to debut on CBS.

Author note: A previous version of the article used the term Latinx in an attempt to be inclusive; however, I have since learned, thanks to gracious commenters, that it is offensive. As such, I have switched all references to the gender-neutral term Latin. I apologize to anyone I may have offended.