Meghan Markle is reportedly returning to acting after an eight-year hiatus.
According to Variety, Markle is making a cameo as herself in the Amazon MGM Studios production Close Personal Friends. The film stars Lily Collins, Brie Larson, Jack Quaid, and Henry Golding.
The Sun quoted an unnamed source familiar with the matter as saying that this was a “massive moment” for the Duchess of Sussex and “signifies a return to doing what she truly loves”.
“She has been swamped with offers but this one felt right,” they added. “It’s Meghan’s way of gently putting her toe back in the water and seeing how she enjoys being back on set. Everyone involved is super-excited, and have been sworn to secrecy about her involvement. Prince Harry is, of course, really supportive and quite simply wants Meghan to do whatever brings her joy.”
According to People, Markle had already been on set filming her role. “She has a small part. She seemed very relaxed and happy. She introduced herself to everyone and was very sweet and down-to-earth,” a source told the outlet.
The Independent has reached out to representatives for Markle and Amazon MGM for comment.
This marks Markle’s first acting role since she left Suits in November 2017. She played paralegal Rachel Zane, appearing in the nine-season show right from the start. Markle left the series after getting engaged to Prince Harry in 2017.
Close Personal Friends, directed by Jason Orley, follows a regular couple who befriend a celebrity pair on a trip to Santa Barbara, near Markle and Harry’s home in Montecito, California.
The couple moved to Montecito after stepping back as senior working royals and bought a sprawling estate in 2020, choosing the exclusive Californian enclave for greater privacy, space, and a setting closer to their base in the US.
In 2020, Markle and Harry secured a lucrative contract with streaming giant Netflix, a deal thought to be worth over $100m (£74m). The deal has so far yielded two seasons of Markle’s lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, which has drawn mixed reviews.
The series launch coincided with the unveiling of her As Ever brand, with the first products including the raspberry jam and the flower sprinkles that she repeatedly promoted throughout the show.
A special episode titled With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration is scheduled to air in December.
In August this year, the couple’s company, Archewell Productions, signed a “multi-year, first look deal for film and television projects” with Netflix, giving the streamer the first option on their upcoming ventures. There are plans for an adaptation of Meet Me at the Lake, the bestselling romance novel by Carley Fortune, and a new documentary short titled Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within that is expected to be released later this year.
The couple’s other major media deal, with Spotify, ended in 2023 after just one season of Markle’s podcast Archetypes.
In June, Markle shared on the Aspire podcast that there were “not a lot of mixed race parts” and that she had struggled prior to her breakout role in Suits.
“If I’m only up for 10 parts, that could be 10 nos, but if I’m up for 30 parts because I can fit into so many different rooms, that could be 30 nos. That is a lot to chip away at, that is a lot to chip away at your self-esteem – that is really hard,” she said.
