Meghan Markle's Acting Career Before and After Marrying Prince Harry Explored Ahead of Her Rumored Comeback

Meghan Markle's return to acting may be on the horizon nearly a decade after she stepped away from her career.

Before becoming the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan built a successful career as an actress and was best known for playing paralegal Rachel Zane on the hit legal drama Suits from 2011 to 2017.

Meghan, who was previously married to film producer Trevor Engelson, left Suits and stepped away from acting before her 2018 royal wedding to Prince Harry. The couple later moved to California after stepping back from their senior royal roles in 2020, and six years later, the family-of-four returned to the U.K. for an extended stay.

Following the move, renewed buzz began to build around Meghan's potential return to acting.

Meghan scored her first official TV credit in 2002, when she played a nurse named Jill in two episodes of General Hospital. She went on to build her acting empire with appearances in Century City, A Lot Like Love, The War at Home, CSI: NY, The League and Deceit.

She later made a memorable appearance in the pilot episode of 90210, playing Wendy, a woman who is caught performing oral s-- on Dustin Milligan's character, Ethan, inside his parked car at school. Meghan was not credited by name in the episode and was instead listed simply as "hot girl."

Meghan continued taking on other television and film projects even after landing her breakout role on Suits, appearing in CSI: Miami, Remember Me, Horrible Bosses, Dysfunctional Friends, When Sparks Fly, Anti-Social, Dater's Handbook and Chopped Junior.

Meghan left the legal drama after its penultimate seventh season ahead of her wedding to Harry.

In the royal couple's engagement interview with the BBC's Mishal Husain, she clarified she did not view the decision as "giving anything up."

"I just see it as a change," she expressed. "It's a new chapter, right. And also, keep in mind, I've been working on my show for seven years. So we're very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series. For me, once we hit the 100-episode marker, I thought, you know what? I have ticked this box, and I feel really proud of the work I've done there, and now it's time to, as you said, work as a team with [Harry]."

Meghan also said she was excited about "the transition out of [her] career and into [her] role," explaining that it would allow her to devote more energy to "the causes that are really important" to her.

"Very early out of the gate, I think you realize you have access or a voice that people are willing to listen to, and with that comes a lot of responsibility, which I take seriously," she continued.

When asked by Variety in 2022 whether she would consider acting again, Meghan declared, "I'm done. I guess never say never, but my intention is to absolutely not."

As OK! reported, Meghan's rumored casting in the third season of the action-comedy series The Gentlemen was withdrawn due to intense backlash.

"I learned this morning the backlash against the casting of Meghan Markle in season three of Guy Ritchie's Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn," royal author Tina Brown penned on her Substack page on August 22. "The backlash in the U.K. was so intense, it became untenable to go forward. This does not bode well for Meghan's acting comeback in the U.K."

Manda Levin, Netflix's scripted chief in the U.K., offered a vague response when asked about Meghan's possible acting comeback during the Edinburgh TV Festival on August 26.

"All bets are off," said the Netflix executive.