Meghan Markle No Longer Being Considered To Join Netflix’s ‘The Gentlemen,’ Report Says
Meghan Markle's anticipated return to acting in Guy Ritchie's Netflix series "The Gentlemen" has reportedly been halted. Although Markle was in "very early stages" of talks for the unconfirmed third season, former editor Tina Brown confirmed the casting is no longer proceeding. Brown, writing in her Substack column, cited "intense backlash in the UK" as the reason, deeming the situation "untenable." This news follows recent reports of Prince Harry and Markle's plans to move their family back to the UK. Markle, who had a notable acting career including her role in "Suits" before marrying Prince Harry, now faces uncertainty regarding her acting comeback, especially in the UK.
Meghan Markle’s aspirations to return to acting in director Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen have apparently been dashed.
Markle, whose acting credits include the series Suits, was in the “very early stages” of talks to join the third season of the crime comedy, although Netflix has yet to renew the show, Deadline reported on Friday.
On Saturday, Tina Brown — the former editor-in-chief of The New Yorker and Vanity Fair — said the idea of casting the Duchess of Sussex in the series was not moving forward.
“I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn,” Brown wrote in her Fresh Hell column on Substack. “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. More to come.”
Brown’s column follows reports from earlier this week, when Prince Harry and Markle announced that they would be leaving Hollywood and moving their family back to the U.K.
Word of Meghan Markle’s return to acting surfaced in a report from News.com.au, where sources told the publication that the duchess was “offered a role in an upcoming project based in the UK.”
The same day, Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva wrote, “I hear that the former Suits star is in talks to join Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen for Season 3.”
Markle is certainly no stranger to acting, having appeared in about 30 screen projects since 2002. Her last lead acting role was in Suits, a legal drama, in which she starred as Rachel Zane opposite Gabriel Macht’s Harvey Spencer and Patrick J. Adams’ Mike Ross. Markle appeared in 108 episodes of the series over seven seasons, from 2011 to 2018.
Markle married Prince Harry on May 19, 2018. Prior to Suits, Markle, 45, appeared in such films as Dysfunctional Friends (2010), Horrible Bosses (2011), Random Encounters (2013) and Anti-Social (2015). Markle’s first credited role came in a guest role in 2002 in an episode of the daytime drama General Hospital.
Prior to Suits, Markle appeared in several guest turns in such TV series as The War at Home, CSI: NY, 90210, Knight Rider, Without a Trace, Fringe, The League, CSI: Miami and Castle.
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