While then-Meghan Markle invited her Suits costars to her 2018 wedding, I never got the impression that she was super-tight/BFFs with any of them. That’s not a slam or anything, I just got the impression that she was well-liked and respected for her professionalism among her coworkers, but she was much closer to people outside of work. But you can’t just say “yeah, I worked with Meghan for years and years but it’s not like we were best friends.” That’s not a sexy interview hook! So it is with Patrick J. Adams, the star of Suits who played many scenes against Meghan. Whenever Adams is interviewed these days, he’s asked about Meghan. He never disses her, and he comes up with creative ways to say that they were just work friends and not much more.
Patrick J. Adams says “pure fear” is preventing him from calling his former Suits costar Meghan Markle. The actor played the Duchess of Sussex’s love interest on the USA drama, but after attending her royal wedding to Prince Harry in May 2018, he’s had little contact with Meghan.
“Quite frankly, I think I’m intimidated,” he told the Radio Times. “I have no doubt I could pick up the phone and call her at any moment, but I don’t know what I would say.”
Adams said that after Meghan and Harry’s 1-year-old son Archie was born and he welcomed a daughter with Troian Bellisario, the former costars were in touch. “After our children were born, there were some texts sent and gifts sent, but I guess I’m a little scared,” he explained. “I think it’s pure fear. I guess I’m scared about the idea of breaking through whatever walls exist to have that conversation.”
Adams added that it’s difficult to see the media scrutiny Meghan has been under since leaving Suits and marrying Prince Harry. “Knowing what’s in Meghan’s heart and knowing how compassionate she can be, it’s hard to watch because you want your friends to be left alone to build their life together,” he said.
Adams, 39, also recently spoke about his relationship with Meghan, also 39, with Access Hollywood, saying that he was “happy to have her stateside” after she relocated with her family to California earlier this year. The actor also applauded his former costar’s recent work in encouraging Americans to vote in the 2020 presidential election.
“I’m very, very happy that she’s becoming very vocal and doing whatever she can to help the election in November,” he said. “I miss my friend, but I’m very happy she’s doing well.”
I think about this a lot, especially in the context of Meghan’s friendship with Jessica Mulroney. Patrick, Jessica, all of them knew Meghan before she was a duchess. They knew her when she was an actress on a cable show with dreams and goals beyond Suits, for sure, but did any of them ever think that the Meghan they knew for years would end up as the Duchess of Sussex, the American princess who rescued a blood prince and got him to move to sunny California? The story of Meghan’s life is so improbable, and it’s funny that the people who were once in Meghan’s life are still making adjustments. What DO you say to your former coworker after the craziness of her life the past three years?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.
It has to be weird to have someone that you knew and liked (and I do get the impression they were friends off set as well*) in the course of 3 years become one of the most famous women on the planet, one of the few who can go by their first name and people know who you are talking about – Beyoncé, Oprah, Angelina, Meghan. I imagine there is a big element of how weird it would be just to call up and say “sooo…..how’s it going……”
*I think that Meghan and her co-stars were friends on and off set but probably not such good friends that they are tied at the hip for the rest of time. Maybe kind of like when you become really good friends with someone at work, but if one of you leaves the company you never really talk again.
Yeah I get Patrick’s hesitation to contact her. They clearly got along and liked each other but I don’t think they were really BFF? And now her life has become something he can’t relate to at all, hanging out with royals and then dealing with a very public exit from that institution. I think this would go for any of us who knew someone who married someone super high-profile like Prince Harry. I’d be super intimidated too! What do you say to someone who has led such a crazy life like that? For a brief period due to a job in fundraising, I dealt with high-profile people that went by aristocratic titles and I really didn’t understand how to relate to these people with private jets and priceless art collections who could trace back their lineage generations. It’s such a weird world and you don’t get it unless you are from it.
But I think Meghan would probably be excited to hear from him? I think that’s part of the reason they moved to CA. It’s what Meghan is familiar with and away from all that royal nonsense. Sure, she’ll always be famous and she lives in a mansion in a super affluent community. But she seems to have done a good job staying in touch with her friends pre-marriage. Wasn’t Abigail Spencer seen with her in Canada while she and Harry were there?
Hasn’t spoken*
He’ll always be Helena’s Boyfriend Jessie on Orphan Black to me
I binged Suits after Meghan started dating Harry and honestly it’s a soapy hot mess but very fun and she and Patrick had hella chemistry!
however (in this excerpt anyway) I don’t think he is saying “we were just work friends,” I think he’s being respectful of her position and wishing her well. It’s not like they had made couple-friends with him and his wife after she was w Harry, but she *did* invite them and most of her castmates to the wedding and they absolutely seemed like a decently close cast from what I’ve read.
He seems like a nice person from all I’ve read, and it’s nice that he says he’s intimidated! She’s a Duchess 🙂
Pretty sure (based on pics and interviews) she’s good friends with many of her Suits co-stars Rick Hoffman, Gina Torres, Abigail Spencer and I think Sarah Rafferty as well.
Yeah those are people she seemed closest to. I think she and Patrick were just colleagues.
She seems to be great friends with Sarah and Abigail. I think she’s not all that close with Patrick which isn’t surprising since she seems to be such a girls girl. I get his dilemma and it does seem hard to navigate especially since it’s such a unique situation but I don’t know if I’d feel the need to reach out at all. Especially if we were just work friends and don’t run in the same circles otherwise. I’d do what he’s doing and her other former coworkers are doing and not doing or saying anything to pile on.
I think the lesson here, at least for me, is try to be kind to everyone and if you can’t try to be polite because you never know how things could play out.
As a WOC (black) woman working in tech, I can’t tell you the amount of times some people are unkind and nasty because they think you are invading ‘their space’. I had one Caucasian woman who hated me for no reasons. I came across her at 2 separate companies. finally one company I was in, hired her and she became my boss. She wasn’t just cold, she was down right hostile. Spoke negatively about me to the CEO (who was my boss before this woman). She dumped ALL her work on me, took credit, refused to upgrade my pay with all the extra work. I knew the company, I KNEW the CEO better than most…so I still tried to be nice to her and give her ‘heads up’ about how she was going about things. Hah, she didn’t listen and became more hostile.
literally 90 days in, (I was back home in Canada and working remotely), one day I am out walking my dog. I got an urgent text asking me to call her. So I called her because I thought something was wrong as she was on her fancy vacation in Italy and I was covering for her. She was fired with what I’d describe as ‘extreme prejudice’. Meaning, seconds after she was let go, they shut her out of the systems. Every single thing. She didn’t get to say ‘bye’ to anyone.
She cried to me on the phone and I actually felt bad for her..until she said, ‘I don’t understand, why would they fire me? You’re still there’. I said my good byes. A year later she was still unemployed, she messaged me asking for help on some project, I ignored her and she is someone I’d absolutely never recommend.
I would never of course say ‘she’s terrible’ or what not if I were asked about her so I’d probably in some way do what Patrick is doing without the bit about being fearful.
She sounds like a nightmare – I’m glad she finally got her comeuppance. I kind of love that she was fired while on vacation. THAT will be a long flight home. I admire what sounds like your restraint and kindness on that final call. “You’re still there.” F her.
Advice should anyone ask for a recommendation for her – just say “oh, I can’t comment on a past employee. You need to contact the HR department.” That will say more than enough. Nobody hesitates to say positive things if they’re true – so saying nothing is saying a lot.
I worked with someone like that here in Canada. She ended up getting fired from the company where we worked for her toxic narcissism and lying, deliberately trying to get others fired, etc. A few years later she contacted me because she’d opened up an art gallery and wanted me to come see it . I declined, but about a year later I read in the paper that she’d ripped off many of the artists she repped and a bunch of paintings were *supposedly* stolen. She ended up being hunted down by the RCMP in Florida in a class action suit and lost everything.
Karma baby….
Intheknow- Thank you for sharing that story- it’s very heartening to see justice unfold. And you were far kinder than she deserved.
That sounds like a normal, professional relationship! I think if one of my former co-workers suddenly married in to the royal family, I would feel like they might interpret a sudden call or text out of the blue as a possible request for a favour!
I know! I’d probably send a Christmas card, or like a birthday text or something, but beyond that I think I’d feel weird, unless it was a very close friendship.
I kind of get it. When you’re no longer working together and your friend is a freaking royal, it does put a strain on a casual friendship. I wouldn’t know if I could just ring her up and text her. I do hope Meg reaches out to the cast if she sees this, if they haven’t already (i know she’s still close friends with a couple).
This isn’t news to me to be honest. There would obviously be some distance since they’re married and no longer working together. I drifted away from many good friends too, once they moved away.
She’s very close friends with one of them at least, as Abigail sat close to the altar with Serena. I wouldn’t expect Meghan to be too buddy buddy with a married man that she had to make out with and be partially, almost nude with…..i mean gosh that’s just weird to begin with, and with the BM you know they would pounce.
I always wonder if Harry watch Suits or watch Meghan’s intimate clips with Patrick, I know it’s acting, but oh goodness what an awkward thing
Yeah I get it honestly. Her life has turned into something that very few people on the planet can really relate to. I wouldn’t know what to say either if someone I knew went through what Meghan did – even if we were close friends. Not that her and Patrick aren’t close but I don’t think they’re best friends in a way her other Suits co-stars like Sarah and Abigail are.
Patrick J. Adams is 39 years old but he looks much younger than Harry lol
I think for him, he’s not wanting to be viewed as a user either. If you were friends with a coworker, then your coworker got insanely famous and you started hitting them up when you had what 7+ years to be close friends that would also be part of the intimidation factor.
Recently saw a movie with him and his wife called Clara, was quite raw and interesting.
IIRC, he was liking Gary Janetti posts about Meghan and would block folks who called him out on that.
Anywho, I don’t think he’s awful. I’d like to think Troian has educated or would educate him on microaggressions against POC esp WOC since she’s mixed raced too (just very white passing black biracial)
I think Meghan was really close to the guy who plays Louis Litt (can’t remember his name atm sorry !). They went on holidays together.
I think there must have been, maybe not friendship but mutual respect between her and her costars because they all have been super classy about the whole thing. None of them has blabbed about her in the media, they also have handled being invited to the Royal wedding with discretion.
If they had not cared about her they would have milked their work relationships for all they were worth.