Meghan Markle has been “bombarded” with work offers following a former co-star’s revelation she is planning a return to acting.
Studios and production companies have tabled offers to the Duchess of Sussex for a range of roles, including horror and even soap operas, a senior Los Angeles casting agent exclusively told Page Six.
The avalanche of deals came after her former “Suits” co-star, Eric Roberts, publicly declared at a red carpet event last month that 44-year-old Markle was plotting a comeback to Hollywood.
The casting agent told us that directors and producers have been “scrambling in the last couple of weeks” over the opportunity to hire Markle, who already filmed one part for an upcoming Amazon movie last year.
“Meghan has been the hottest talking point in Hollywood circles in the last couple of weeks,” the agent claimed. “The very suggestion that she is planning to come back to acting has prompted interest the likes I have never seen in my three decades in the business.”
“Offers for leading roles and development proposals have flooded in,” our insider continued. “We are talking purveyors of genres including rom coms, drama, sitcoms and even soap operas. We cast across the board and everyone wants to be in the conversation.”
The agent also described the mother of two as a “unicorn,” because her signing onto any project would generate “stratospheric” hype and headlines.
“The reality of the excitement is because having Meghan in a screen project is a big deal on several fronts,” our source explained. “The primary opportunities seen by executives are how much attention Meghan’s return would bring to a project, which would prompt potentially tens of millions of investment money.”
The agent added, “And the reason for that is that the interest and publicity for her return would mean potential huge viewing figures or cinemagoer ticket sales – not just in the US, but around the world.”
But given that the Duchess of Sussex “walked away” from acting after getting engaged to Prince Harry in 2017, the agent noted that there’s “a huge question mark in town around who represents her interests today.”
“Agents, studios, production houses and even writers are trying to find connections to Meghan through her old agents, businesses and charity.”
The fascinating development has emerged even though Markle has refused to act in Netflix projects, despite her having a multi-million-dollar deal.
“It is irrelevant how her Netflix shows have fared, because this is Meghan back to her first career, which she’s enjoyed experience and success in,” the casting agent shared.
“Her standing as an actress has always been solid and she was immensely popular in ‘Suits.’ A return to her being involved in dramatics on screen, rather being in the drama with her family issue off screen is very appealing.”
Page Six has reached out to Netflix and Markle’s reps for comment.
Markle has already taken her first gentle steps back to Hollywood by filming a cameo in Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming film “Close Personal Friends” starring Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Jack Quaid and Henry Golding.
Eric, 69, prompted the avalanche of offers when he stated that the star, who played Rachel Zane in “Suits,” would definitely return.
Speaking to the Daily Mail in March, Eric and his wife, Eliza Roberts, who is an actress, casting director and his manager, confirmed Markle will return to acting after the collapse of her exclusive multi-million-dollar Netflix deal.
The couple, who grew close to Markle during the Canadian film shoots for “Suits,” claimed she stepped away from the legal series over the royal family’s concerns about her “very sexy” character.
Eric said, “She will come back. She’s going to be fantastic and blow everybody’s mind.”
Eliza, 73, chimed in, “Meghan is a star. From the second you see her, she just has star quality. It doesn’t matter. It was always going to happen… she needs to be acting. She is a young woman who needs to be acting.”
“It is time, and Meghan needs to come back to work,” she continued. “I feel like her whole family will support it, and she is amazing.”
Read the full article here
