Meghan Markle to make Hollywood comeback after 8 years alongside Brie Larson and Lily Collins
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, is making her official return to acting with a small role in the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios film 'Close Personal Friends,' where she will reportedly play herself.
This marks her first on-screen appearance since stepping away from her acting career and her popular role on the legal drama 'Suits' eight years ago, following her engagement to Prince Harry.
Meghan Markle films new Amazon MGM movie in Pasadena
Meghan Markle was reportedly spotted on location filming in Pasadena, California, on Wednesday, November 5, for the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios production co-starring Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Jack Quaid, and Henry Golding.
According to The Sun, sources said the plot centers on two couples, one celebrity couple and one regular couple, and the inevitable complications when their lives intersect.
Notably, the film’s story takes place in Santa Barbara, the same area where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reside. This project marks a major step back into the entertainment world for Meghan, whose last fictional role was as paralegal Rachel Zane in 'Suits,' which she starred in from 2011 to 2018.
Her final episode aired in 2018, although it was filmed in 2017, the same year she announced her engagement to Prince Harry.
Before 'Suits,' her last film role was in the 2016 Hallmark Channel TV movie 'Dater’s Handbook.'
Prince Harry backs Meghan Markle’s return to acting career
Insiders say this is a comeback role that has been carefully chosen after the Duchess was “swamped with offers.” A studio source told The Mirror, “This is a massive moment for Meghan and signifies a return to doing what she truly loves. She has been swamped with offers, but this one felt right. It is Meghan's way of gently putting her toe back in the water and seeing how she enjoys being back on set.”
They added that everyone involved has been “pledged to confidentiality.” Her husband, Prince Harry, is reportedly “incredibly supportive of his wife’s screen comeback and has been urging her to pursue ‘whatever brings her joy.’”
However, Harry has also been candid about the difficult side of his wife’s former acting career. Writing in his memoir 'Spare,' the Duke recalled one particular scene from Suits: “I’d witnessed her and a cast mate mauling each other in some sort of office conference room. It would take electric shock therapy to get those images out of my head.”
Meghan Markle recalls acting struggles amid new film return
Meghan Markle has spoken many times about her feelings toward her acting career, both past and present. In June, she told Emma Grede’s 'Aspire' podcast that she “sometimes” misses the acting world. She added that her unscripted Netflix lifestyle show, 'With Love, Meghan,' gives her a taste of that world again, saying, “That is really great.”
She has also been candid about the challenges of her early career, recounting to Grede how being consumed by rejection and the opinions of others affected her: “That is a lot to chip away at your self-esteem. That is really hard. I went through my chapter of self-doubt as an auditioning actor and beyond that. When you’re so consumed by what everyone around you thinks of you, that can be a really hard way to live.”
Despite her recent return to the screen, the Duchess expressed hesitation about a full-scale acting reboot in a 2022 Variety interview, joking, “No, I’m done. I guess never say never, but my intention is to absolutely not.”
In that same interview, Meghan discussed how the industry has changed since she stepped away in 2018, noting the impact of streaming platforms and the difficulty of creating the kind of “zeitgeist moments” that once defined entertainment.
Her current cameo in 'Close Personal Friends' appears to be a careful, low-stakes way to re-engage with acting, aligning with the sentiment she expressed in her 2017 engagement interview, when she said of leaving acting, “I don’t see it as giving anything up, I just see it as a change.”
