Meghan Markle is just as surprised by Suits‘ newfound popularity as the rest of Us.
Markle, 42, weighed in on the show’s streaming success during an interview on the red carpet at Variety‘s Power of Women event on Thursday, November 16. “Isn’t that wild?” she mused when told that the USA Network series has officially earned more than 45 billion minutes in streaming on Netflix and Peacock combined.
Markle, who portrayed paralegal Rachel Zane on the show from 2011 to 2018, added that she has “no idea” why fans have become so invested in Suits once again. Her best guess? “It’s hard to find a show you can binge-watch that many episodes of these days, so that could have something to do with it. But good shows are everlasting,” she said.
Gushing over her experience filming the legal drama, Markle added, “It was great to work on, such a great cast and crew. We had a really fun time.”
Suits aired for a total of nine seasons, but Markle left the drama after season 7 as her relationship with Prince Harry heated up. The couple’s engagement was announced in November 2017, and their royal wedding was held at St George’s Chapel in London in May 2018.
Markle starred alongside Patrick J. Adams, Gabriel Macht, Sarah Rafferty, Gina Torres and more on Suits, which was made available to stream earlier this year. As its popularity began to surge with a new audience, creator Aaron Korsh reflected on how Markle’s royal status impacted Suits while it was airing.
“I mean, your initial reaction is, like, ‘We’re [all] dating a prince!'” Korsh teased during an August interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Markle was still acting when she and the Duke of Sussex, 39, went public with their romance in 2016. According to Korsh, the Suits team received a message from the palace about the show’s dialogue.
“[The royal family] weighed in on some stuff,” he claimed. “Not many things, by the way, but a few things that we wanted to do and couldn’t do, and it was a little irritating.”
Korsh described a proposed scene with Rachel and Mike Ross (Adams) in which Markle’s character would say the word “poppycock,” which allegedly didn’t sit well with the royals. “So, we had to change it to ‘bulls–t’ instead of ‘poppycock,'” he said. “And I did not like it because I’d told my in-laws that [poppycock] was going to be in the show. There was maybe one or two more things, but I can’t remember.”
Since she and Harry stepped down as senior working royals in March 2020, fans have been wondering whether Markle would ever pick up acting again. Executive producer Gene Klein hinted in August that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if a Suits reboot got the green light, but he’s not holding out hope for Markle’s return.
“I would assume that’s just not possible,” he told TV Line. (Deadline reported last month that a Suits spinoff is in development with NBCUniversal.)
While she may not be heading back to the Suits universe, Markle has been involved in the entertainment industry since her royal exit, striking a multi-year deal with Netflix in September 2020. A six-part docuseries titled Harry & Meghan was released on the platform last year, and the couple have even more in the works.
“We have so many exciting things on the slate,” Markle teased on Thursday. “I can’t wait until we can announce them, but I’m just really proud of what we’re creating. My husband is loving it, too. It’s really fun.”
