{"id":1023882,"date":"2026-08-25T21:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T21:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1023882\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T21:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T21:18:14","slug":"meghan-markles-role-in-the-gentlemen-could-still-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1023882\/","title":{"rendered":"Meghan Markle’s Role in ‘The Gentlemen’ Could Still Happen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPlans for the phased rollout of \u201cThe Gentlemen<\/a>\u201d Season 2 had been in the works for months. Netflix<\/a>\u2018s Sept. 3 launch date was set with all the usual components in place for one of the streamer\u2019s starry dramas: a trailer, a Season 3 renewal announcement, a junket, a press conference and a red-carpet premiere at a historic London venue followed by a glamorous afterparty \u2014 the perfect place to celebrate the latest installment of Guy Ritchie\u2019s high-octane series about dukes and drug dealers.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in a case of life imitating art, the show\u2019s entire publicity strategy was inadvertently wrecked by a real-life aristocrat, after reports leaked that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was being eyed for a role in the series<\/a>. Just days ahead of Netflix\u2019s long-planned release of a full-length trailer for the new season, in tandem with an announcement the show had been renewed, the leak dominated the news cycle for 24 hours. Then came a new report claiming her role had been canned due to the \u201cbacklash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo what on Earth happened? And, more importantly, what\u2019s actually true?<\/p>\n

\n\tEarly Friday morning, a little-known Australian royal reporter called Bronte Coy claimed during a segment on Sky News Australia that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex was planning to \u201creturn to acting\u201d<\/a> and it was partly for this reason she and husband Prince Harry were relocating to the U.K. While Coy was, well, coy on details about the supposed project \u2014 whether it was a film or a TV show, a cameo role or series regular \u2014 she was adamant \u201cthere is a role in the works,\u201d and that Meghan was about to sign on.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs with anything related to Meghan and Harry, even the most gossamer threads of gossip quickly ignited, and news of Meghan\u2019s mysterious new role spread across multiple continents. A few hours later, The Hollywood Reporter revealed the unnamed mystery project was at Netflix \u2014 despite Meghan and Harry\u2019s rocky relationship with the streamer after the collapse of their reported $60 million deal<\/a> \u2014 and was already in production in the U.K.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat story set off a new round of frantic guesswork, and the streamer\u2019s staff \u2014 both past and present \u2014 were inundated with queries from journalists trying to get a steer on which project. Was Meghan, who has publicly shared her dislike of the nude pantyhose favored by British royals, willing to don a corset for \u201cBridgerton\u201d? Or would she dust off one of her suits from \u201cSuits\u201d for a knowing cameo on \u201cThe Diplomat,\u201d an entire series about the fraught relations between the U.S. and the U.K.? Or had Charlie Brooker lined up some canny stunt casting with a \u201cBlack Mirror\u201d episode about a duchess in dystopia?<\/p>\n

\n\tForty minutes later, Deadline claimed to have the answer: Guy Ritchie\u2019s \u201cThe Gentlemen,\u201d an edgy series about aristocrats and criminals running a cannabis empire together, in which Theo James plays a duke opposite Kaya Scodelario\u2019s underworld heiress. Curiously, that story, published on Friday, claimed the show hadn\u2019t yet been renewed for a third season. In fact, although news of the Season 3 renewal was only officially announced two days later, <\/a>everyone working on the series knew it was well into pre-production with cameras set to roll imminently.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe real story behind Meghan\u2019s potential appearance on the show, Variety has learned <\/strong>from a well-placed source with knowledge of the situation, is that it was an \u201cincredibly nascent concept\u201d \u2014 so nascent, it was hardly considered \u201creal on any level.\u201d Effectively, Ritchie threw out the duchess\u2019 name while brainstorming ideas, well before the royal couple announced they were relocating back to the U.K. Meghan\u2019s was just one of \u201ca smorgasbord of names\u201d Ritchie mentioned, says the source: there was certainly no suggestion of contracts about to be signed. The source was puzzled as to how Meghan had even heard about Ritchie\u2019s suggestion unless she\u2019d had direct conversations with him (if she did, the source wasn\u2019t aware of them). The idea may also have been shared via their agents, since they\u2019re both repped by WME.<\/p>\n

\n\tRitchie has often gone for unusual casting choices, giving former soccer player Vinnie Jones his first ever acting role in 1998\u2019s \u201cLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels\u201d at a time when it was much harder for non-actors to cross over into film. Jones also stars in \u201cThe Gentlemen\u201d as the Halstead groundskeeper. <\/p>\n

\n\tThis season, Ritchie has also cast \u201cLove Island\u201d U.K. host Maya Jama in her first ever dramatic role, playing a fixer for a Middle Eastern tycoon. (\u201cHe would be like, \u2018Yeah, you\u2019re doing well\u2019 and reassure me, which was really nice,\u201d Jama told Variety<\/a> <\/strong>of working with the director earlier this year). And while there aren\u2019t many Americans in \u201cThe Gentlemen,\u201d Giancarlo Esposito returns in Season 2 as mysterious U.S. billionaire Stanley Johnston, who could well have a daughter around Meghan\u2019s playable age.<\/p>\n

\n\tEither way, no one in Meghan\u2019s camp went out of their way to deny each report as it broke throughout Friday. Variety\u2019s source suspects the story might even have been seeded by her reps \u2014 or further inflamed \u2014 given it helps acclimatize audiences to the idea of Meghan\u2019s return to acting, not to mention signaling to producers she\u2019s available. (On Sunday, The Times of London ran a story suggesting the \u201cGentlemen\u201d story was \u201cleaked to bolster her acting credentials.\u201d) \u201cI\u2019m stunned if this isn\u2019t coming from her [camp],\u201d says Variety\u2019s source. <\/p>\n

\n\tSo what to make of the subsequent claim on Saturday, published by former Vanity Fair editor and royals expert Tina Brown in her Substack newsletter, that the role had actually been offered and then withdrawn due to \u201cbacklash\u201d? Well, Variety hears that\u2019s not quite right either. If there is an offer, it\u2019s not entirely dead. Scripts are still in the process of being written, so there could potentially be a role if Ritchie and co-writer Matthew Read want to make one work.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety\u2019s source wasn\u2019t aware of a \u201cbacklash\u201d per se, although acknowledged that Megan is polarizing, particularly to British audiences. But that\u2019s not necessarily a career-killer in Ritchie\u2019s eyes. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t rule out it happening,\u201d the source says of where things currently stand.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith Season 3 not likely to hit screens until 2028, Netflix is currently focused on getting through the launch of Season 2, which has now been somewhat overshadowed by all the rumors. \u201cPeople are bummed,\u201d the source acknowledges of the spotlight that\u2019s shifted away from the show\u2019s deserving cast and crew. Netflix publicists are preparing themselves for the fact that the upcoming junket, press conference and media line, all scheduled for next week, will probably be dominated by the duchess. On the bright side, it\u2019s all publicity for the show.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for Ritchie, \u201cI\u2019m sure he loves this on some level,\u201d says the source wryly. \u201cHe loves mayhem.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plans for the phased rollout of \u201cThe Gentlemen\u201d Season 2 had been in the works for months. Netflix\u2018s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1023883,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[9],"tags":[171,6436,4659,407294,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1023882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-meghan-markle","tag-netflix","tag-the-gentlemen","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117158235623009738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1023882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1023882\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1023882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1023882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1023882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}