Plans for Meghan Markle’s much-anticipated return to the screen have reportedly been shelved. Her potential role in the third season of “The Gentlemen” has been axed following public criticism.
According to royal commentator Tina Brown, Guy Ritchie’s popular Netflix series withdrew its offer to the Duchess of Sussex after the backlash in the UK became overwhelming.
Brown remarked, “I’ve heard that Meghan Markle’s role has been rescinded. The controversy surrounding her casting grew too intense, making it impossible to proceed.”
In the “Fresh Hell” newsletter on Substack, she further commented, “This development casts doubt on Meghan’s potential return to acting.”
Back in 2019, Meghan firmly stated she had no intention of resuming her acting career. In a 2022 interview with Variety magazine, she asserted, “I’m done. I think it’s never say never, but my plan is definitely not to.”
Now, however, her return to the screen has been touted by sources ‘close to the duchess’ as one of the reasons she and Prince Harry are returning to Britain.
But commentators have suggested that any acting role for Meghan and a subsequent return to the spotlight could be problematic both for the Sussexes and the Royal Family in general.
Baroness Wheatcroft, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, said: ‘The first thing any actress wants is publicity and Meghan may be a good actress. She is certainly going to be offered roles but she has to be very careful when the inevitable interviews come along not to embarrass the royals.’
Meghan Markle’s much-touted return to acting has been ‘cancelled’ it has been claimed
In 2022, Meghan said she had no plans to return to acting, however, earlier this week sources close to her said she was in ‘advance discussions’ to star in season three of the hit show
Before marrying Harry, Meghan enjoyed a successful seven-season run as Rachel Zane in the legal drama Suits. She reportedly earned around $40,000 per episode by the time her final episode aired in April 2018 – just one month before she walked down the aisle at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor.
Meghan has a small cameo in the upcoming film Close Personal Friends, starring Brie Larson and Lily Collins. But a source connected with the project described the appearance to The Mail on Sunday as little more than fleeting. A role in Ritchie’s The Gentlemen would have marked a far more significant return to acting.
Last night Netflix declined to comment while a spokesman for the duchess refused to confirm or deny that the offer had been withdrawn.
The possibility of Meghan appearing in the show emerged last week with sources claiming she was in ‘advanced discussions’ about joining the third season.
The Gentleman, based on Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, follows an English aristocrat who discovers that the estate he has inherited conceals a lucrative marijuana-growing operation.
The second season arrives on Netflix next month.
Reports that Ritchie was considering creating a role for Meghan were met with an immediate torrent of online criticism.
On Netflix’s Instagram account for The Gentlemen, one viewer warned: ‘If Guy Ritchie hires Markle to go on Season 3, his ratings will drop fast.’
Another wrote: ‘Many will boycott The Gentlemen if MM is in the cast. I loved the series but cannot watch the new series if she is in it.’
Others said they would refuse to watch the programme ‘out of principle’, citing anger over Meghan’s claims about her treatment by the Royal Family.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Meghan and Harry intended to move from the US to Britain with their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five
Meghan’s best-known acting role is as Rachel Zane in the legal television drama Suits. (Pictured here with co-star Patrick J. Adams)
A source at Disney studios told The MoS last night: ‘Every so often people around [Hollywood] get calls about whether there are any gigs for Meghan but she’s a polarising choice… She’s not someone I would want in one of my shows because you’re alienating a large part of your audience before you shoot a single frame.’
Tina Brown believes the duchess may have become too toxic for mainstream TV roles.
The author of The Diana Chronicles and The Palace Papers told the MoS: ‘The backlash was too intense for Ritchie to proceed.’
Meghan and Harry signed a $100million five-year deal with Netflix in 2020, but that lapsed last year with the streaming giant declining to renew it. Their Harry & Meghan docuseries was the most-viewed in Netflix history, but subsequent projects failed. The lifestyle show ‘With Love, Meghan’ attracted mixed reviews and was not renewed, while Harry’s ‘Polo’ series was a flop.
But the MoS has learned that Meghan could find success in the theatre. Mark Borkowski, a West End PR expert, said: ‘I’ve had two West End managements calling me up for a PR view on if they should approach Meghan… They were asking if she would sell tickets and I told them absolutely.’