The Duchess of Sussex is sailing in the same boat with us as we pedal through to understand an unprecedented spike in the critically acclaimed USA Network drama Suits, in which she worked for seven seasons.
During the red carpet at Variety’s Power of Women event on Thursday, the outlet’s senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson informed Meghan Markle about the resurgence in the viewership figures of the legal drama.“I’m sure that you’ve probably noticed that a certain show, Suits, has become a phenomenon yet again on Netflix.”
As per Neilsen’s latest weekly streaming report released on Thursday, Suits garnered over 45 billion minutes of streaming on Netflix and Peacock combined. Upon this revelation, the Suits veteran who portrayed the paralegal Rachel Zane expressed her astonishment, “Isn’t that wild?”
However, the former actress admitted that she has “no idea” what caused this unexpected spike in the viewership figures of the series. Be that as it may, Markle made a guess, “It was great to work on, such a great cast and crew. We had a really fun time. I was on it for seven seasons, so quite a bit. But 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.”
It was not just Meghan Markle who was positively stumped by the growing success of the series after its finale. Suits creator Aaron Korsh expressed his puzzlement on X while retweeting Deadline’s story discussing the latest streaming record being broken by the show. Korsh wrote:
“I always thought we were underestimated, but it turns out, even I underestimated #Suits. It’s good to be the King.”
The exponential popularity of Suits is marked post its finale in September 2019 for a consistent four months, breaking a plethora of viewership records. As a consequence, the creators are planning to make a comeback. Per Deadline’s report on October 12, series creator Aaron Korsh is reportedly working on a Suits offshoot for NBCUniversal. The details are still left to be ironed out, but the outlet states that it’s being worked upon with “a serious commitment.”
Denying the status of a revival, reboot, or even a spin-off, the new Suits series is expected to be parallel to the CSI and NCIS franchises, inviting new characters and a new location. Deadline also shares that for the new series, the creators might be looking forward to Los Angeles as a backdrop.
Produced by UCP, an offshoot of Universal Studio Group, Suits and its spinoff Pearson aired on the company’s USA network. Enjoying a nine-season run starring Rick Hoffman, Sarah Rafferty, Gina Torres, and Meghan Markle (although she was present for seven seasons), Suits was a remarkable success while it was being aired and continues to be while it is on OTT platforms.
Speaking about the “everlasting” quality of shows, Variety’s Angelique Jackson broaches the subject of the Duchess’ entry into the entertainment industry as a producer.
“That’s what you’re doing now. You have now come into Hollywood in a producorial capacity. As you’re looking to make these new projects, what is the thing that is driving the work that you’re going to put out into the business?” she asked.
The former 42-year-old actress said, “Things that make people feel– I was going say ‘good,’ but it’s more than that, things that make people feel something, right? And feel a sense of community. But we have so many exciting things on the slate. 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.”
At the moment, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have created three projects along with the streaming giant, viz. Heart of Invictus, a documentary; Live to Lead, a docuseries; and Harry & Meghan, an autobiographical venture. Per the outlet, Markle has hinted at more projects in the future.
After retiring from Suits, which came off as a consequence of her marriage to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex in 2018, Markle has marked her entry into Hollywood, but this time, she comes as a producer. Along with Prince Harry, the Duchess of Sussex is developing TV and film projects under their Archewell Production banner, according to Variety, which has “an overall deal with Netflix.”
According to PEOPLE, “the couple went on to ink multimillion-dollar deals with Spotify and Netflix”, leading to the release of Meghan’s successful podcast Archetypes in August 2022. Not only that, but Prince Harry’s pioneering memoir, Spare, published by Penguin Random House, went on to become a bestseller.
In April, the Duchess of Sussex reportedly signed a deal with the talent agency William Morris Endeavor, and in June, the couple split from Spotify, with whom they had a $20 million deal. In August, The Independent reported that the couple’s Archewell Productions will be adapting Carley Fortune’s romance novel Meet Me at the Lake.
The Independent reported to have spotted some similarities in the text and Harry and Meghan’s love story. The novel, set in Toronto, where Meghan lived during Suits’ filming, follows the love story of two strangers, Will and Fern, who are on a day’s adventure where they make a promise, kept loyal by one and broken by the other, leading to long-term effects in life.
With such lucrative deals under her belt, Meghan said she was “thrilled to be back” in the entertainment industry with Variety during their Power of Women event on Thursday.
Variety’s Power of Women 2023 issue was published on Wednesday, honoring Lily Gladstone, Billie Eilish, Carey Mulligan, and Fantasia Barrino, among other inspirational women, along with underscoring profiles of accomplished women in the annual Women’s Impact Report.
In 2022, Markle was reported to be honored by Variety’s Power of Women issue in September. Unfortunately, three weeks before the issue’s publication, the 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II died. As a consequence, Markle sat for an interview with Variety instead of being included in the Power of Women issue, owing to the official mourning period.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex on the success of #Suits: "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." | Variety #PowerOfWomen https://t.co/oGSpRQ4GyP pic.twitter.com/kz8QiTq2be
— Variety (@Variety) November 17, 2023