Why Meghan’s acting comeback could ‘fail spectacularly’

Marianka SwainWed, August 26, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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The Duchess of Sussex’s best-known role was earnest paralegal and love interest Rachel Zane in Netflix’s legal drama Suits - Ian Watson/Open 4 Business Productions

On Monday, Netflix officially renewed Guy Ritchie’s aristocratic crime drama The Gentlemen, while teasing “Your guess is as good as anyone’s as to what’s coming in the third season”.

It was a seeming acknowledgement of the rampant speculation around a certain piece of stunt-casting: would this serve as The Duchess of Sussex’s big acting comeback? While keeping shtum on that score, the streamer did add, cryptically: “All bets are off.”

It has been a chaotic few days of competing rumours – it’s still not clear if Meghan was ever offered a part on the show, if it was withdrawn following a backlash, or if she’s still involved – illustrating the level of intense scrutiny that she’ll face if she does indeed return to thespian activities after almost a decade.

The interest is there, but could Meghan actually deliver? She wasn’t exactly a budding Meryl Streep before she gave it all up to become a member of the Royal family. She began as a smiling “briefcase beauty” on Deal or No Deal (which she later, on her podcast Archetypes, decried as objectifying), then had a series of bit parts such as a lingerie-wearing maid in CSI: NY, “Hot Girl” sat next to Ashton Kutcher on a plane in A Lot Like Love, and a high schooler pleasuring a classmate in a car on teen soap 90210. Her best-known role was earnest paralegal and love interest Rachel Zane in B-tier legal drama Suits. It was a perfectly competent supporting turn, rather than one hinting at untapped transformational abilities.

Meghan decried her role as a ‘briefcase beauty’ on Deal or No Deal as objectifying in her podcast - Trae Patton/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Transformation doesn’t necessarily have to be a problem. Indeed Maya Jama, who has been cast in season two of The Gentlemen, has a considerable celebrity profile, notably through her appearances on Love Island. Yet images of Jama in the new trailer suggest that a suspension of disbelief from the audience could be possible. Meghan’s baggage is so heavy, however, that such an imaginative leap could be tricky.

Marcus Flemmings, head agent at Allied Artists, agrees: “If she were to play a single mum in Peckham, I wouldn’t believe her. She needs to play it safe for her first role back. If she goes too much against type, it could fail spectacularly.”

PR expert Mark Borkowski agrees: “I can’t see audiences suspending their disbelief if Meghan plays someone totally different – she’s never going to disappear into a role.”

In the unnamed role of ‘Hot Girl’ sat next to Ashton Kutcher on a plane in A Lot Like Love - Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Meghan is not, of course, the first actor to have become royalty. The most famous, Grace Kelly, married the Prince of Monaco at the age of 26 and gracefully retired. Sophie Winkleman, the wife of Lord Windsor, has managed to maintain a decent career (appearing in Belgravia and Sanditon), but she has always remained defiantly low profile, which Meghan definitely is not.

The case of Cressida Bonas, the ex-girlfriend of the Duke of Sussex, proves that any link to royalty always defines you. Despite several decent roles (including a sizeable role in White House Farm, an ITV drama about the Jeremy Bamber murders), little was made of Bonas’s acting credentials and much of her royal connections.

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Sophie Winkleman, the wife of Lord Windsor, has maintained a decent career (appearing in Sanditon) - Simon Ridgway/Red Planet Pictures

Flemmings points out that external fame isn’t completely insurmountable. “Jennifer Lopez, who became bigger in her other professions and personal life than her acting career, could still make it work.” But it’s trickier when the star is as divisive as Meghan, he admits: “A lot of people feel very negatively towards her.” Another comparison, thinks Flemmings, is with “cancelled” celebrities such as Johnny Depp, who nevertheless do bring eyeballs to their projects (Depp is making his own controversial comeback this Christmas with the Scrooge-themed movie Ebenezer). “It depends whether you want the attention that Meghan will bring to your movie or show – good and bad. You won’t have control over the publicity. Looking at how Meghan has run her career the past few years, you’d imagine she’ll want to shape her own narrative.”

However, choosing the right project is crucial, says Flemmings. “She can’t do something gritty or hard-hitting: the public see her as a royal.” (There is also the fact that Meghan is something of a joke: note the cheeky casting call from EastEnders on Monday for a new character coincidentally named “Meghan” who is “confident, gorgeous and ready to cause chaos”.) In fact, it sounds like Meghan might already be taking Flemmings’s advice to “play it safe”. She has a small cameo in forthcoming Amazon comedy Close Personal Friends, about a couple getting to know their new celebrity neighbours, in which she plays… herself.

However, Flemmings thinks the Duchess’s best bet is a heartstring-tugging romcom, perhaps holiday-themed – exactly the route that Lindsay Lohan (a real comeback queen) took in 2022 with the cosy Netflix movie Falling for Christmas. Flemmings adds: “Hopefully Meghan’s agent will strongly advise her – and hopefully she’ll listen.”

Meghan has some experience with cosy romcoms, starring in 2014 TV movie When Sparks Fly - AJ Pics / Alamy

Borkowski, has a more impish suggestion, pointing out that there’s already a pertinent, if contentious, example at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. “Amanda Knox is the major talking point there – why wouldn’t Meghan be too? She’s big box office.”

Indeed, he believes that some industry powerbrokers are interested in taking the risk. “I’ve had a few calls from West End producer mates, asking me ‘Is her brand too toxic, would people buy in?’. I’ve said ‘Of course they would’ – it’s pure curiosity value. There’s a history of actors using the West End to restart a flagging career. I remember when Madonna did [David Williamson’s play Up for Grabs] in 2002, ticket prices went through the roof. Scalpers were selling them for hundreds of pounds.”

Madonna as Loren in David Williamson’s play Up for Grabs - Daniel Smith/PA

But is Meghan prepared to submit humbly to an agent – or indeed a producer or director? Borkowski acknowledges that the perception of her suggests not. “She’s used to being the one in charge, for better or worse. You get to a point in life where you’re addicted to your status.”

Borkowski is dubious about whether she did land a role on The Gentlemen, despite her existing relationship with Netflix, which previously hosted her derided lifestyle show With Love, Meghan. “The whole exercise could be one big publicity stunt,” he says. “By leaking it, you get free market research – you can see how people react and get an idea of what you could do. This sea of speculation is great for Meghan’s brand: it gets everybody talking about her.”

Meghan has an existing relationship with Netflix after her lifestyle show With Love, Meghan - Jake Rosenberg/Netflix

But one thing’s for sure: it doesn’t look like Meghan is prepared to try another well-worn route, namely accepting a camp, self-parodic role that riffs off her outsized public image. Her recent nausea-inducing guest judge appearance on MasterChef Australia, which featured a gushing introduction describing her as “a global icon” and “a humanitarian”, did not, alas, suggest that Meghan has a sense of humour about herself.

That means any comeback attempt might well produce gripping drama – but off the screen, rather than on. “It’ll be like EastEnders meets Game of Thrones,” says Borkowski. “I’m definitely tuning in.”

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