Cast dismiss Meghan Markle role rumours in The Gentlemen
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Cast members of The Gentlemen have dismissed reports that Meghan Markle could join Guy Ritchie's crime drama, batting away the rumours on the red carpet at the London premiere of the show's second season. Vinnie Jones called the speculation "hot air" and joked the series already had "a lot of pretty women," while Theo James, Ray Winstone, Hugh Bonneville and newcomer Maya Jama all voiced scepticism, with James branding it a "spurious rumour" that would be "impossible" in practice. Guy Ritchie himself gave no interviews on the night, leaving unanswered claims that he had held preliminary talks with the Duchess of Sussex about a role in a possible third series.
The speculation stems from a Daily Mail source who said Meghan, now back living in the UK, has "not given up hope" of appearing in the show and that talks may still be "ongoing," with a role reportedly a factor in her decision to relocate; separate rumours point to her wanting a West End stage role. This followed earlier claims by royal author Tina Brown that an acting offer had been withdrawn within 24 hours of the Sussexes' return due to intense backlash, and PR expert Mark Borkowski suggested the whole story may have been a deliberate leak to generate publicity ahead of her return, given the production issued no official comment throughout.
- Gentlemen cast dismiss rumours Meghan Markle could join the show
- Guy Ritchie declined to comment, leaving talk of a role unresolved
- PR expert suggests the rumour may have been a publicity leak
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Meghan Markle's move to Britain and reports about her stepping back from royal duties have kept her in the headlines, and speculation has grown that she could take an acting role in The Gentlemen, Guy Ritchie's crime drama for Netflix. The show, based on his 2019 film, returned for a second series with a cast including Vinnie Jones, Theo James, Ray Winstone and Hugh Bonneville, and rumours of Meghan joining have circulated in the press for some time.
Meghan built her career as an actress before marrying Prince Harry in 2018, most notably starring in the legal drama Suits, and stepped back from acting once she became a working royal. Since she and Harry left royal duties in 2020, there has been recurring interest in whether she might return to screen work, with The Gentlemen repeatedly named as a possible vehicle for that.
Guy Ritchie has not commented publicly on the claims, while several cast members have downplayed them at press events. The story matters because it touches on wider questions about Meghan's public image, her relationship with the media, and how stories about her are reported and interpreted since she left royal life.
Full account
Cast members of Guy Ritchie's Netflix drama The Gentlemen have publicly dismissed suggestions that Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, might join the show, batting away questions on the red carpet at the London premiere of its second season. Vinnie Jones was characteristically blunt, calling the talk 'hot air' and joking that the series already had 'a lot of pretty women', leaving little space for another addition. Theo James, who plays drug baron-turned-Duke Eddie Horniman, was similarly sceptical, telling reporters the idea was a 'spurious rumour' and that, while Markle would in theory suit the world of the show given her own connection to the Royal Family, he considered the practicalities 'impossible'.
Other cast members offered their own takes on the speculation. Ray Winstone said it was the first he had heard of any such plan, though he added, self-deprecatingly, that Markle would be a 'better looking' addition to the cast than himself. Hugh Bonneville dismissed the rumour as a shrewd piece of marketing dreamt up by whoever started it, while newcomer Maya Jama said she would be 'the last person to know' about any casting decision. Guy Ritchie, the show's creator, attended the premiere with his wife Jacqui Ainsley and son Rocco but declined to speak to reporters, leaving unaddressed claims that he had held preliminary discussions with Markle about a possible part in a future series.
The speculation traces back to news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who have spent the past six years living in California, were planning an extended return to Britain, after which reports emerged that Markle was in talks over a role in a major UK production, later identified as The Gentlemen. Accounts of how serious those talks were have varied: some industry figures have suggested the story may have been deliberately circulated to generate publicity ahead of the Sussexes' return, while sources close to the production have been coy rather than dismissive. Netflix's UK head of scripted content, Manda Levin, notably declined to rule out the idea outright, remarking only that 'all bets are off'. Separately, the royal author Tina Brown has claimed that an acting offer to Markle was pulled within a day of the couple's return to the UK owing to intense public backlash, though other sources maintain discussions, possibly including a stage role in the West End, may still be alive.
Speaking to the entertainment outlet Deadline, Theo James gave a more measured response than his premiere remarks suggested, saying a role for Markle in the yet-to-be-developed third season was 'unlikely' but stressing that writing for that run has not even begun, with his focus for now on promoting the newly released second season. That season, which began streaming on Netflix on the day of the premiere, picks up a year after Eddie and Susie (Kaya Scodelario) join forces with Ray Winstone's crime boss Bobby to expand his operation abroad, with a central storyline following the pair's drug enterprise into Italy, where Eddie becomes entangled with the aristocratic old-money world and the Italian mafia, and falls for a character played by Benedetta Porcaroli.
Where outlets differ
The Daily Mail leans into the possibility the rumour is not entirely dead, citing unnamed sources who claim talks may still be ongoing and that Markle wants a West End stage role, plus Tina Brown's claim about a withdrawn acting offer and PR-motive speculation from publicist Mark Borkowski — none of which appears in Deadline's account.
Deadline focuses on the factual chronology of how the casting rumour emerged (tied to the Sussexes' UK return and its own scoop) and on Netflix UK executive Manda Levin's non-committal 'all bets are off' comment, which the Mail excerpt does not mention.
Deadline includes substantial detail on Season 2's plot (the Italy storyline, Bella's romance with Eddie, Ritchie's approach to Italian mafia tropes) and confirms Season 3 has been officially greenlit but not yet written; the Mail's account is centred more on premiere red-carpet reactions from a wider range of cast members (Winstone, Bonneville, Jama).
More coverage
- Deadline — ‘The Gentlemen’ Star Theo James On Megan Markle Casting, Guy Ritchie’s Process & “Reticence” Over Italy Storyline
- The Hill — Theo James calls Meghan Markle's ‘The Gentlemen’ casting rumors ‘hot air’
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “‘We’ve already got a lot of pretty women’: Vinnie Jones and Theo James pour cold water on ‘impossible’ rumours of Meghan Markle joining The Gentlemen”.