Netflix Boss Fuels Meghan Markle ‘The Gentlemen’ Casting Rumors With Four-Word Response
Claims of backlash and ‘total fabrication’ have clouded the casting saga — but Netflix’s latest response suggests the door may still be open.
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
August 31, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Netflix U.K. scripted chief Manda Levin responded “All bets are off” when asked whether Meghan Markle could join Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen.
- Netflix renewed the series for a third season as reports conflict over Markle’s status, though no deal has been reached and discussions reportedly remain ongoing.
- The role would mark Markle’s biggest scripted comeback since Suits, following her cameo as herself in the upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends.
Meghan Markle’s possible return to scripted television remains unresolved, and one of Netflix’s top U.K. executives isn’t exactly shutting it down.
Manda Levin, Netflix’s scripted chief in the U.K., was asked about Markle potentially joining Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen during an appearance at the Edinburgh TV Festival on August 26. According to People, rather than confirm or deny the increasingly complicated casting saga, Levin offered four words: “All bets are off.”
Netflix renewed The Gentlemen for a third season on August 23, days after reports first emerged that Markle was in talks for a role. No deal with the Duchess of Sussex has been reached, but discussions remain ongoing. The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that a potential role was being written for Markle, with the number of episodes in which she could appear still undetermined.
Former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown claimed that Markle’s casting had been withdrawn because of intense backlash in Britain. Media correspondent and filmmaker Neil Sean disputed that version even more forcefully, writing on social media that the proposed casting “was never on” and calling the reports a “total fabrication.”
But People subsequently reported that Markle was still being considered, and Netflix has now officially ordered another season of the series.
A role on The Gentlemen would mark Markle’s most significant return to scripted acting since leaving Suits, where she played Rachel Zane for seven seasons. Markle stepped away from the profession before marrying Prince Harry in 2018 and appeared to close the door on an acting comeback four years later. “I’m done,” she said in 2022, although she added, “I guess never say never.”
That door has already cracked open. Markle filmed a cameo as herself in the upcoming comedy Close Personal Friends in 2025, and she and Harry had been discussing a larger return to acting before The Gentlemen opportunity surfaced.
The timing also lines up with a major change for the Sussexes. Harry and Markle arrived in Britain with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet on August 26, beginning an extended stay six years after relocating to North America. Their children will attend school in the U.K., while the couple plans to maintain a private, non-royal home base there without resuming official royal duties.
Markle will continue to operate her As Ever lifestyle company, while Harry is expected to spend more time with his British charities and to prepare for the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham.
