Meghan Markle’s TV and film roles, from Deal or No Deal to Suits

A run-down of the Duchess of Sussex’s career on screen

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s new Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, is fast becoming one of the most talked-about TV events of the year.

The series, which dropped its first three episodes on Thursday 8 December, is expected to be the couple’s most revealing TV appearance since their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

In the trailer for the new series, Prince Harry could be heard suggesting that there were stories “planted” against Meghan during their time as senior members of the royal institution, a claim expected to be explored in the next three episodes, which will air on Thursday 15 December.

Here’s a rundown of Markle’s career in TV and film.

Markle made her acting debut in an episode of US soap opera General Hospital in 2002.

Her work throughout much of the next decade was characterised by short, one-episode appearances on TV series such as CSI: NY, 90210, and The League, also appearing in a two-episode arc on Fox’s sci-fi drama Fringe in 2009.

In 2006, she briefly served as one of the “Briefcase Models” in season two of the CBS contest Deal or No Deal on NBC (as number 24).

Markle featured in a small uncredited role in the popular 2010 comedy Get Him to the Greek, and shared a scene with Jason Sudeikis in 2011’s Horrible Bosses, playing a FedEx worker.

In 2011, Markle was cast in the USA network’s acclaimed legal drama, Suits.

It would become her biggest and best-known role. She played Rachel Zane, a talented paralegal-turned-lawyer who eventually falls in love with and marries series lead Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams).

Markle featured in 108 episodes of the show, eventually leaving after marrying Prince Harry.

Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in Suits (© 2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC.)

In 2013, Markle starred as the female lead in the romantic film A Random Encounter. In 2014 and 2016, she featured in two Hallmark original movies: When Sparks Fly and Dater’s Handbook.

In 2020, Markle was the narrator for last year’s Disney+ nature film Elephant.

And in summer 2022, she launched her podcast Archetypes, which aims to “dissect, explore, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back”. Guests have so far included Mariah Carey, Serena Williams and Mindy Kaling.