Did Meghan Markle want to produce the new Suits?
THE massive ‘second wind’ success of the TV drama Suits on Netflix has given a boost to the forthcoming LA-based spin-off.
Last week NBCUniversal announced it had ordered a pilot of Suits: LA which will be shot in March, in Vancouver.
Naturally the news has sparked a conversation (yet again) about whether Meghan Markle, a Suits alumnus, might be involved. Sources close to the new show confirm that she has not opted to join the project as on-screen talent, even though there is a role which would have been perfect for her.
However, the real dish is that she was apparently interested in getting involved as an executive producer, via her production company Archewell.
A source said: ‘Meghan was clear that she didn’t want to be involved as an actor. But Archewell was trying to wiggle its way in as a production company on the spin-off. NBC have killed that idea.’
Sources close to Archewell deny this vigorously and say the company would never have been involved in a reboot.
Meghan played Rachel Zane in the show, leaving in 2017 after her romance with Prince Harry took off. The Suits cast were at last month’s Golden Globes, though Meghan was conspicuously absent.
One who was there was American actress Gina Torres, who was once so close to Meghan that she was among the guests at St George’s Chapel in Windsor for the royal wedding in 2018.
But speaking at the LA awards show, Torres said: ‘We don’t have her number. We just don’t.’ She said the rest of the cast kept in touch via a WhatsApp group.
When the first eight seasons of the series were added to Netflix last year, the show went to the top of the streaming charts for months — and ultimately broke the record for the most ever No 1 appearances on the US Nielsen ratings chart.
None of the original cast is attached to the spin-off and NBC has not yet named a lead star. The new show has been written by Aaron Korsh, who created Suits.
Meghan and Harry have a development deal at Netflix which is due to run out in September 2025. So far they have made a tell-all documentary about their lives (Harry & Meghan), plus a documentary about the Invictus Games.
Last year, Archewell acquired the rights to a romantic novel, Meet Me At The Lake, which the couple plan to adapt as a movie.
Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria said that there was a film and a series ‘in very early development’ and added they have ‘a couple of unscripted things they’re working on’.