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Meghan Markle‘s Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, has been a mixed bag. Season 1 moved the needle enough that it landed in the Top 10 on the streamer, but Season 2 had a quiet debut.
It has led to questions about whether the Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle show will see a third season, despite Netflix being her distribution partner for her As Ever brand. That’s led to the Los Angeles Times asking a major question about her Hollywood career: Why doesn’t Meghan return to acting?
There were rumors that Meghan was angling for a behind-the-scenes role on the now-canceled Suits LA reboot (insiders tied to Archewell Productions denied that claim), but a return to acting doesn’t seem to be in the cards for her.
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SUITS, (from left): Gabriel Macht (back to camera), Patrick J. Adams, Meghan Markle, ‘War’, (Season 2, ep. 216, aired Feb. 21, 2013).
Christos Kalohoridis / ©USA Network / Courtesy: Everett Collection.
When she was asked on the Aspire With Emma Grede podcast in June about whether she misses her former career, she responded with a lukewarm, “Sometimes.”
“Actually, having a large team, being back on set with With Love, Meghan was great because I realized how much I had missed my crew,” Meghan explained. “I love being around a crew.”
The Duchess of Sussex didn’t get to say goodbye to her Suits family after she retired from acting in 2017. She got engaged to Prince Harry in November that year, and officially joined the royal family in May 2018 after their wedding. “We couldn’t say I was leaving necessarily. It was speculated,” she added. “So, after seven years on the series, we couldn’t have a going-away party. I couldn’t say my goodbyes.”
When Meghan was struggling in the royal family, a 2023 book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait by palace insider Gyles Brandreth, claimed that the late queen offered Meghan the opportunity to return to her entertainment career.
“She did everything she could to make her future granddaughter-in-law feel welcome. She was concerned for her future happiness. At their first meeting, the Queen said to Meghan: ‘You can carry on being an actress if you like – that’s your profession, after all,’” wrote Brandreth.
Even with A-list friends, who could probably kickstart her career again, including Tyler Perry, Meghan seems content with her swerve into the lifestyle space. And Netflix’s CEO, Ted Sarandos, is a big fan of the Duchess of Sussex.
“I think Meghan is underestimated in terms of her influence on culture,” he said to Variety in March. “When we dropped the trailer for the Harry & Meghan doc series, everything on-screen was dissected in the press for days. The shoes she was wearing sold out all over the world. The Hermès blanket that was on the chair behind her sold out everywhere in the world.”
“People are fascinated with Meghan Markle,” Sarandos summed up. “She and Harry are overly dismissed.”
Meghan’s acting career is likely in her rearview mirror.
Before you go, click here to see more of Meghan Markle & Prince Harry’s milestones since leaving the royal family.
