Meghan Markle will not reprise her role in the spinoff Suits: LA.
The Duchess of Sussex will not be playing Rachel Zane or the character that seemed tailor-made for her.
Meghan Markle will not be in the spinoff Suits: LA
Meghan Markle captivated audiences in her breakout role as Rachel Zane on the hit legal drama Suits.
Though she left the show in 2017 to focus on her relationship with Prince Harry, fans held out hope that she might make at least a cameo in the recently announced Suits spinoff, Suits: LA.
However, sources close to the production have confirmed Meghan will not be returning to reprise her fan-favorite character.
Suits aired on USA Network for nine seasons between 2011-2019, becoming the network’s most streamed show ever on Netflix in 2023.
Meghan was part of the original main cast as Rachel Zane, a savvy paralegal who eventually attended law school herself.
Her chemistry with co-star Patrick J. Adams’ character Mike Ross earned “Mike and Rachel” fans’ affection.
Meghan exited Suits shortly after going public with her relationship with Prince Harry in late 2016, appearing only minimally in the show’s seventh season before her character was written off.
She married Harry in 2018 and became the Duchess of Sussex, stepping back from acting to take on full-time royal duties.
In January 2023, NBC Universal announced it had greenlit a Suits spinoff entitled Suits: LA from Suits creator Aaron Korsh.
The new show will feature all-new characters maneuvering the high-stakes Los Angeles legal world.
Korsh specifically created the character of Erica, an intelligent, outspoken African-American woman in her 30s, as a potential part for Meghan.
However, sources close to Suits: LA’s production team told The Daily Mail Meghan turned down the opportunity.
While Meghan told Variety she was flattered by Suits’ continued popularity in syndication, she has no plans to return to acting at this time.
Her priorities remain focused on philanthropy and raising her two young children with Prince Harry after stepping back as senior working royals.
Korsh has promised the spinoff will capture everything audiences loved about the original hit show.
Suits reunites at the Golden Globes
On January 7, 2024, one of the highlights of the night at the Golden Globes was the reunion of the cast of the hit series “Suits.”
Patrick J. Adams, Gina Torres, Sarah Rafferty and Gabriel Macht took the stage to present one of the awards, but the Duchess of Sussex was the big absentee.
At first, her own colleagues claimed that Meghan did not attend because they did not have her phone number.
Then another version came out. The Duchess refused to attend the Golden Globes because of another important commitment she had.
Though Suits fans may be disappointed Meghan won’t reprise her career-launching role, they can look forward to seeing a new cast of characters navigate drama both in and out of the courtroom when Suits: LA premieres.