Now that Meghan Markle has successfully – in her own estimation, at least – once again won the battle for hearts and minds in Britain after her trip to Nottingham with Prince Harry, her thoughts have turned once again to her resumption of her former profession. I refer, of course, to acting, and to the rumours that she was to be given a plum starring role in the third series of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, in which she was said to be reading for an unspecified but pivotal part.
A fly-on-the-wall documentary following their return to Britain would have been a guaranteed ratings hit
These rumours have now been shut down. And, true to form with all things involving the Duchess of Sussex, there is a spat about who is telling the truth. A ‘friend’ of Meghan’s poured cold water on the idea that there was ever any possibility that she would be appearing in The Gentlemen, saying to the Telegraph that, ‘It’s the oldest marketing trick in the book – get a big name to read a script, then leak that you’re “in conversation” with them when, in reality, nothing is particularly far along. The whole thing left a bit of a sour taste in the Sussex camp’s mouth. Needless to say, Netflix got what it wanted — huge viewing figures for season two and a lot of publicity.’
Netflix and the makers of The Gentlemen bridled at this and have now shot back, with one anonymous source sneering, ‘This is not a show in need of stunt casting.’ Certainly, from an artistic perspective, the programme has gone from strength to strength. After a lighter, sillier first season, the second series is where The Gentlemen really found its stride, particularly in Theo James’s central performance as a smooth aristocrat who finds himself mired in the world of drug dealing. Without wishing to spoil the show for anyone who has not yet had the pleasure of seeing it, it ends up in some distinctly dark places. The idea that the third series is going to be laddish business-as-usual, complete with incongruous star cameos is, if you’ll excuse the expression, one for the birds.
It is not wholly absurd to imagine that Netflix wished to get back into bed, figuratively speaking, with Meghan, given how loyal they have previously been to her. After all, loyalty is the only explanation for the very existence of With Love, Meghan, a show of such egregious, mind-blowing awfulness that most critics, myself included, assumed that it was made as the result of a lost bet with the Sussexes.
There followed the non-renewal of Harry and Meghan’s lucrative Netflix deal, which has now been turned into a ‘first look’ arrangement – i.e. Netflix continue to reserve the right to produce projects that the Sussexes come up with without any obligation to do so. Still, there is a sense that should Meghan wish to resume her acting career, she would have to find a project as high-profile as The Gentlemen. Or else run the risk of finding that her return to screens small or large was as damp a squib as With Love, Meghan.
Perhaps Netflix are kicking themselves for missing a trick with the Sussexes. After all, a fly-on-the-wall documentary following their return to Britain would have been a guaranteed ratings hit – especially if it included such bizarre events as the changing of their children’s school after two days. And they were dropping hints as to Meghan’s potential involvement with The Gentlemen over the summer, making loaded comments such as ‘All bets are off’ and ‘Your guess is as good as anyone’s as to what’s coming in the third season.’
Yet it would now appear, unless this is the mother of all double bluffs – not an impossibility – that Meghan’s mooted involvement with The Gentlemen is not going to be delighting viewers in 2028. Which means that those who are waiting for the former Suits star to return to screens as a character, rather than herself, are going to be on tenterhooks for just a while longer. Still, at least there is a cameo in the upcoming Amazon picture Close Personal Friends, in which Meghan is said to play a ‘self-aware, playful’ version of herself. Self-aware? Playful? These are not necessarily words we associate with La Markle, so perhaps the greatest surprise of all is to be sprung on audiences. Watch this space.
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