Meghan Markle was reported to be gearing up for a major return to acting after a near-decade-long hiatus from screen roles.
Her alleged return came alongside news of the duchess and her husband Prince Harry‘s plan to relocate from their home in California to the UK with their two kids, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
However, a source shared with former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Tina Brown that Meghan Markle’s offer to star in a major role for a hit British TV series had been revoked following backlash over her rumored casting.
5Brown, who was one of the top sources to confirm that Meghan had an acting role waiting for her upon her return to the UK, made the new claims about the duchess’s axed role in the Guy Ritchie hit series, “The Gentlemen.”
According to the journalist, rumors of Meghan’s name being attached to the show began to spark controversy over her casting, which ultimately led the showrunners to drop her.
“I learned this morning the backlash against the casting of Meghan Markle in season three of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn,” Brown wrote in her “Fresh Hell” newsletter.
She continued, “The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward. This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the UK.”
The Duchess Was ‘Very Excited’ For The New Acting Opportunity
5Reports of Meghan’s possible return to acting came as news of her plan to relocate to the UK with her husband and kids became public. The new role was reportedly one of many factors that contributed to their decision to leave their Montecito home.
Before it was allegedly scrapped, Brown noted in her initial reports about the duchess’s acting return that details related to the show “are not yet clear.”
She, however, explained that the As Ever founder’s recent appearance on “MasterChef Australia” was a good experience for her, something she enjoyed, and that she was “back on the market” and the WME agency secured her a role.
Aussie journalist Bronte Coy, who first reported the development on news.com.au, declared that the project is “significant.” She said, “I’m told it’s significant, and she’s very excited about it.”
Sources close to the Duchess of Sussex and her family have yet to address the claims, and more information about the reported production is expected to emerge soon.
Meghan Markle’s Return To Acting Comes After Nearly A Decade Away
5Meghan’s last major role as an actress was in the legal drama “Suits,” where she played Rachel Zane for seven seasons. After Prince Harry proposed to her in 2017, she subsequently took a step back from the industry, and her last episodes on the show aired the next year.
In 2022, the duchess told Variety that she was uninterested in returning to the industry. She said, “No. I’m done. I guess never say never, but I intend to absolutely not.”
Her sentiments regarding a return have since changed. After Meghan and Harry stepped away from their duties as working royals and moved to North America, they developed TV projects including her lifestyle series “With Love, Meghan.”
The duchess also recently had a brief acting return, as she was on set playing herself in a cameo for the upcoming American comedy film “Close Personal Friends,” which stars Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Jack Quaid and Henry Golding.
Despite the new claims of a scrapped role, Meghan is reportedly “swamped with offers” and is “gently putting her toe back in the water” in a bid to ease herself back into the industry.
About The Sussexes’ Return To The UK
5The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, along with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, plan to move to the UK, where they will live in a private non-royal residence. Their return follows a recent trip to the UK, where the couple reunited with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House.
Archie and Lilibet are reported to have already been enrolled in schools in the UK and are set to continue their education there starting this September. This shows that their UK trip this time around is going to be for an extended period of time.
The couple is expected to maintain their status as non-working members of the royal family, which they have been since they officially stepped away from royal duties in 2020 and established their independent media endeavors in the United States, including deals with Spotify and Netflix through their Archewell production company.
The Sussexes are going to retain their home in Montecito, California, and Meghan’s media projects and As Ever operations will carry on as usual. Harry is also going to maintain his involvement with the Invictus Games as they prepare for the next edition taking place in Birmingham next year.
Meghan Markle To Expand Her Entertainment And Lifestyle Brand Overseas
5The relocation to the United Kingdom presents an opportunity for the returning actress to expand her brand’s commercial footprint outside the States.
The alleged acting opportunity in the UK would increase her entertainment presence in the country and overall involvement in the entertainment industry, and while her career as an actor took a huge pause after her high-profile marriage, Meghan and Harry have remained active in the industry.
Their Archewell Productions company has worked with Netflix to develop projects for the streaming service, and even after their partnership ended, as per the BBC, they were offered a “first look deal” that makes the streaming giant the primary service to work with on any show the Duke and Duchess of Sussex present.
The couple is currently working on an adaptation of Author Carley Fortune’s novel “Meet Me at the Lake” through their Archewell production company for Netflix and are expected to carry on with expanding their lifestyle and entertainment brand as they move to the UK.
