On Sunday, we discussed the back-and-forth reporting around the Duchess of Sussex possibly scoring a role in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen. The series films in the Cotswolds and the second season will soon drop on Netflix. The original story was that Meghan was in “early stages” conversations about starring in the third season, which has not been greenlit, written or confirmed. It would not surprise me at all if the rumor-mongering about Meghan and this show was designed to be mutually beneficial: promotion for the second season and letting producers know that Meghan is open to returning to acting. At a very basic level, I would love for Meghan to go back to acting and I think it would be fun for her to get a role in a British production. But I’m really not sure what to make of all of the back-and-forth in the industry papers and the British media.

First up, the Sun’s sources claim that Meghan is still “in talks” for The Gentlemen but “no formal agreement has been reached.” Considering the overlap – Netflix and WME for both Meghan and Guy Ritchie – I think she’s genuinely being considered for something, I just don’t believe that “being in talks for a possible role which hasn’t been written yet” is the reason why the Sussexes are moving back to the UK. The Times of London had a different take on all of this:

Preliminary conversations between the Duchess of Sussex and Guy Ritchie about a role in his gangster series The Gentlemen were leaked to bolster her acting credentials, television insiders believe. Meghan, 45, was widely reported to have held exploratory talks with the Hollywood director about the potential for her to appear in his Netflix show after an initial article on the US entertainment website Deadline on Friday.

At present Meghan is not thought to have been offered any role on The Gentleman, which is yet to be recommissioned for a third series.

One well-placed source said the reports that she was being considered to appear on a high-profile show served to make her appear in demand.

“You can well imagine her people might take [a conversation] like that and spin it to create a ‘build it and they will come’ narrative,” they said.

Netflix bosses were understood to have been in the dark about any potential offer, indicating discussions had taken place between Megan and Ritchie directly. Usually any decisions relating to casting such a high-profile individual in a television show would be taken jointly between the broadcaster and production company.

“If I was Netflix then I would want to be across that approach,” another executive at a rival streamer said.

However, one individual who has worked closely with Meghan said that they were sceptical that a role on The Gentlemen would materialise and dismissed the reports as a cynical PR tactic.

“It makes her look good and intimates that the relationship with Netflix is ongoing,” they said. “They like to use Netflix as a way to keep stories about Meghan going.”

On Sunday Tina Brown, the former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, reported that the offer had been withdrawn after a critical response. “Public backlash was too fierce,” Brown said. “This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the UK.”

Brown’s update prompted some surprise from those close to the show who said that they had not been aware of an overly negative reaction to the news which had mainly been greeted with surprise. “There might have been some hate from the usual suspects in the dark corners of the internet — but there hasn’t been a huge backlash,” one said.

One of Netflix’s top executives is understood to have suggested “the best thing [Meghan] could do is return to acting” after an underwhelming response to her reality series With Love, Meghan.

[From The Times]

A cynical PR tactic like… using Meghan’s name to promote the second season, which is coming out next week? That kind of cynical? Now Theo James and the rest of the cast will field questions about Meghan’s possible involvement during their press junket, and every time they say anything about Meghan, it will make international headlines (especially if they say something snide).

Incidentally, The Gentlemen isn’t the only British production trying to connect themselves to Meghan. The long-running soap opera EastEnders is introducing a new character named Meghan (with an H and everything) who is described as “confident, gorgeous and ready to cause chaos.” The studio claims it’s just a coincidence.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.