Key Takeaways
- Meghan Markle remains in early talks for a role in season three of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, though the season lacks an official greenlight and no deal is in place.
- The ongoing discussions contradict claims that producers withdrew the role after UK backlash or that the opportunity “was never on.”
- The project could mark Markle’s biggest scripted acting role since leaving Suits in 2017 as she and Prince Harry prepare to spend an extended period in Britain with their children.
Meghan Markle’s potential acting comeback isn’t dead after all. Days after conflicting reports suggested her proposed role in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen had either been withdrawn—or never existed in the first place—discussions with the former Suits star remain underway.
The update adds another turn to an unusually messy casting story. People reports that Markle and Prince Harry had been discussing her return to acting before the opportunity for The Gentlemen emerged, and sources now say that conversations surrounding the project are ongoing. The potential role would be in the show’s third season, which Netflix officially greenlit on Aug. 25 and is currently in pre-production.
That directly complicates reports over the weekend that Markle’s involvement was already over. Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown wrote Saturday that she had learned Markle’s casting had been “withdrawn,” claiming that “the backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.”
Media correspondent and filmmaker Neil Sean disputed the premise entirely, writing on social media, “It was never on,” and calling reports connecting Markle to Ritchie’s series a “total fabrication.”
The latest reporting, however, indicates that something is still being discussed. Markle remains in early talks for the project, although no deal is in place. That tracks more closely with the original reports from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, which said Markle was discussing a role in the series. THR reported that a part was being written for her and that she had met Ritchie through mutual acquaintances.
The timing could hardly be more significant for Markle. She, Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are preparing to spend an extended period in Britain, where the children will begin school in September.
The family is expected to establish a private home base outside London while retaining its Montecito residence, and Markle’s potential acting project helped the couple’s plans come together.
The Duke of Sussex also has professional commitments in Britain, including preparations for the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham.
Landing The Gentlemen would represent Markle’s biggest step back into scripted acting since she left Suits in 2017 ahead of her marriage to Harry and transition into the British royal family.
She appeared to shut the door on that career as recently as 2022. “I’m done,” Markle said when asked about acting, before leaving herself a little room: “I guess never say never, but my intention is to absolutely not.”
