Meghan Markle’s reported return to acting did more than create a new career opportunity. The prospect of a significant U.K. based role also helped shape the timing of her and Prince Harry’s decision to establish a new home base in Britain.
PEOPLE reported on Aug. 21 that Meghan had been offered what would be her most substantial acting project since leaving Suits. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment on the report but did not deny that an opportunity existed.
Later the same day, another potential piece of the puzzle emerged. Meghan is reportedly in early discussions for a role in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen.
Harry and Meghan are expected to relocate with Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, before the end of August so the children can begin school in Britain in September. The move is expected to last for an extended period.
Meghan’s Representatives Did Not Deny the Reported Acting Opportunity
Australian royal correspondent Bronte Coy first disclosed the acting development while appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Aug. 21.
Coy, who had previously reported on the Sussexes’ planned return through News.com.au, described the acting opportunity as an important element in understanding why the family’s move was happening now. “I’m told it’s significant, and she’s very excited about it,” Coy said.
The BBC reported that sources close to Harry and Meghan did not deny the claim. PEOPLE subsequently reported that it had independently learned Meghan had been offered a major project and that the opportunity was among the factors that aligned the timing of the move.
Meghan Is Now Reportedly in Early Talks for ‘The Gentlemen’
Hours after the initial reports described the project as secret, a more specific possibility surfaced. PEOPLE reported that Meghan is in early discussions to join Guy Ritchie’s Netflix crime series The Gentlemen in what could become her most significant scripted role since Suits.
There is another important caveat, a third season of The Gentlemen has not yet been officially announced by Netflix. The series stars Theo James as Eddie Horniman, an aristocrat who inherits his family’s estate and discovers that it sits above a lucrative criminal operation, with Kaya Scodelario playing Susie Glass. Ritchie created the television adaptation from the world of his 2019 film.
Season 2 premieres Sept. 3 and brings James and Scodelario back alongside Ray Winstone, Joely Richardson and Vinnie Jones, with Hugh Bonneville and several other actors joining the cast.
Her ‘Close Personal Friends’ Cameo Was a Much Smaller Return
Meghan has technically already stepped back in front of a scripted camera. She filmed a cameo as herself for the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios comedy Close Personal Friends in November 2025. The appearance was her first acting role since leaving Suits, but it was designed as a small, self-referential part rather than a return to a regular dramatic character.
The film stars Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Jack Quaid and Henry Golding and follows an ordinary couple whose encounter with a celebrity couple develops into an increasingly complicated friendship. Quaid later confirmed that he worked with Meghan, calling the experience “insane” before turning the conversation back toward the movie’s principal cast.
Meghan herself has since spoken positively about the cameo, describing the experience as “a lot of fun.” That marked a notable change from the position she took several years earlier. Asked by Variety in 2022 whether she would ever return to acting, Meghan replied, “No. I’m done.” She immediately left herself a small opening, adding, “I guess never say never, but my intention is to absolutely not.”
She Left ‘Suits’ Before Becoming a Working Royal
Before marrying Harry, Meghan was best known for playing Rachel Zane on Suits. She joined the USA Network legal drama when it premiered in 2011 and remained a regular for seven seasons, with Rachel progressing from paralegal to attorney during her time on the show.
Meghan filmed her final episodes in 2017 after her engagement to Harry was announced. Her last episode aired in April 2018, one month before their wedding at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor.
She subsequently became a full-time working member of the royal family. Harry and Meghan stepped back as senior working royals in 2020 and eventually settled in Montecito, California. Much of Meghan’s entertainment work since then has taken place behind the camera or in unscripted projects through Archewell Productions, including Harry & Meghan and With Love, Meghan.
The U.K. Move Does Not Restore the Sussexes’ Royal Roles
Reuters reports that the Sussexes intend to live near London in a private residence rather than a royal property. They will remain non-working royals and continue their existing private business, media and charitable activities. It will be the family’s first British home base since Harry and Meghan relinquished Frogmore Cottage in 2023.
The couple also intends to retain its Montecito residence, making the arrangement more transatlantic than a straightforward permanent move back from California. Harry is also expected to continue his international charitable work, including preparations connected with the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham.
In July, Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet visited King Charles at Highgrove in Gloucestershire. Reuters reported that the meeting marked the first time Charles had seen his grandchildren in person since 2022. The reunion was private and did not represent a return to official royal duties, but it suggested some improvement in a relationship that had been strained since Harry and Meghan left Britain.
