Can Meghan Markle win back Hollywood?
Moving to Santa Barbara, dubbing of a Disney documentary ... After having definitively left her royal duties, on Tuesday March 31, the Duchess of Sussex, ex-actress, could outline her big comeback in the Hollywood industry. Decryption.
"Hollywood will reject it and devour it", recently estimated Eric Schiffer, president of the company Reputation Management Consultants, in the columns of the Express UK. The expert, whose company is developing digital strategies to convey a positive image of its customers, then mentioned the possible return of Meghan Markle within the film and series industry. First clue: the Duchess of Sussex, her husband and their son Archie recently moved to Los Angeles before putting down their luggage in Santa Barbara, cradle of American 7th art, revealed the Page Six site on Tuesday, August 11.
Second clue: the former actress lent her voice to the documentary Elephant, broadcast on the Disney + streaming platform on April 3. Third and last clue: the Duchess of Sussex and her husband have multiplied the meetings during the month of June with production and media companies including NBCUniversal to discuss a project still kept secret according to Variety. It did not take more to revive the rumors around the potential film career of Meghan Markle, heroine of the Suits series for seven years.
"She has always dreamed of adopting a real Hollywood lifestyle," a source close to the British daily confided on April 2. I think she always wanted to come back here and nurture that kind of power. I don't think it was that hard convincing Harry to come with her. " Before adding: “In Los Angeles, it can use its royal notoriety without constraint of tradition. Her fame capital is very high now, and there is no better place than Hollywood to nurture it. ”
"His agent will be contacted"
An opinion shared by Jamil Dakhlia, author of Politique people (2008), published by BrĂ©al. "His fame will open certain doors for him, at least for particular, fictional jobs, where his public image can be used," says the sociologist. “As she obviously has a significant notoriety capital, I have no doubt that her agent will be contacted for projects concerning her, adds Violaine Roussel, author of Representing Talent: Hollywood and the Making of Movies (2017), to the University of Chicago Press editions. This obviously changes things a lot for the agent in question (talent agent, specialized in the representation of actors and actresses), who must normally be very proactive in selling his client to casting directors, producers, executives. studio. "
In addition, according to the professor of sociology, other agencies than Gersh - the one which currently represents Meghan Markle - could be tempted to "monopolize this famous client". “The job of agent is much more plural in Hollywood than it is in France: one could imagine that different professionals, more specialized, are interested in a client of this type. They could represent it in other areas of the Hollywood industry: those of advertising, public appearances, television, brands… ”, estimates the author. Prince Harry's wife also has a solid social circle in Hollywood. She is particularly friends with Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Victoria Beckham, Serena Williams, or James Corden.
What if Meghan Markle embodied ... Meghan Markle?
But, according to Jamil Dakhlia, "the basic problem remains the qualities of actress" of the ex-interpreter of Rachel Zane. An "important criterion", considers the sociologist. "Its capital of notoriety is not automatically convertible into artistic recognition, in particular in the field of fiction", warns Violaine Roussel. Especially since Anglo-Saxon critics have not spared the performance of the Duchess in the documentary Elephant - describing it, at best, "syrupy", at worst, "cutesy" and "annoying".
How could Meghan Markle, therefore, protect herself from such reproaches? Quite simply by embodying ... Meghan Markle. "She could allow herself scriptwriting nods to what she's been through," suggests Jamil Dakhlia. And refer to her particular romance, experienced in real circumstances. Nobody would blame him, it would be fun and evocative. " Like Donald Trump, who appeared in Mom I Missed the Plane Again (1992), she could accidentally meet the protagonist of a movie in the lobby of a luxury hotel. The Duchess could also opt for an appearance in a romantic comedy, and take the heroine under her wing, explaining to her that no romance is impossible. Violaine Roussel suggests, for her part, very specific production formats: “Celebrity can more directly lead to artistic recognition when it is his own story that we sell, as in reality TV or documentaries”, analyzes- she does.
A "Hollywood fantasy"
Anyway, Meghan Markle has every chance of a successful return to Hollywood, if she wishes. But this, on one condition: not to opt for "demeaning roles for its image and, by extension, for the image of Windsor", believes Jamil Dakhlia. The Duchess could even embody "a Hollywood fantasy", according to the author. "It would be like the Hollywood return of Grace Kelly, when Hitchcock had tried to bring her back into the industry (after her marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Editor's note)," he continues. In 1962, the director had indeed offered the actress the title role of his film No Spring for Marnie. But the wife of Prince Rainier III had finally had to refuse this offer, because the Monegasques took a dim view of the idea that she played a kleptomaniac.
As a reminder, Meghan Markle began her acting career in 2004, slipping into the shoes of a nurse for the soap opera General Hospital. She has since played supporting roles in the series Century City, The War at Home, or CSI: Manhattan. She was also one of the models who carried the suitcases on the show "Deal or No Deal", from 2006 to 2007. Her career had taken a new turn in 2011, when she inherited the role of Rachel Zane in the program. Suits. She stayed there for seven seasons. In 2016, she also starred in the TV movie How to Meet Love in 10 Lessons. A role tailor-made for the one who would marry Prince Harry on May 19, 2018.
