Nine years ago, Meghan Markle was best known for starring on the legal drama Suits. So, if you didn't watch Suits, there's a good chance you had no idea who she was. (Deal or No Deal superfans are another exception.) That all changed when her relationship with Prince Harry was made public. Since then, Meghan has retired from acting, married Harry, welcomed two children, stepped down as a working royal, moved back to America, and become an entrepreneur and TV host. Whew! A lot has happened—obviously—so does Meghan ever look back on her former career and miss acting?
"Sometimes," Meghan answers that question on the podcast Aspire with Emma Grede. "But you know what, actually, having a large team, being back on set with With Love, Meghan was great, because I realized how much I missed my crew. I love being around a crew."
Meghan explained that she was not able to say a proper goodbye to the crew on Suits, because she was secretly leaving the show amid reports that speculated about her future with her Harry.
"It was such a unique time, because we couldn’t say that I was leaving, necessarily," she told host Emma Grede. "It was speculated. So, after seven years on the series, we couldn’t have a going away party. I couldn’t say my goodbyes … If my crew's watching, I miss you guys. I wish I could have said bye."
Hosting her Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan, ended up being a way to get back the part of acting that she misses most.
"I think for me, having the series, even though it wasn’t scripted, was really great to get that piece back," she explained. "But then also building my own business, you have a team, and that’s really what I was craving."
Meghan left Suits and acting ahead of her marriage to Harry, deciding to take on the humanitarian work she could do as a royal as her new career.
"I don't see it as giving anything up, I just see it as a change," she said in her engagement interview with Harry (via Time) in 2017. "It’s a new chapter, right? Also keep in mind I had been working on my show for seven years. So we were very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series. For me, once we hit the 100 episode marker, I thought, you know what, I have ticked this box, and I feel very proud of the work I had done there and now it’s time to work as team with [Harry]."
Also on the podcast episode, Meghan shared the skills from acting that are still serving her today as a businessperson. (In addition to her Netflix show, she has a food line called As ever and a podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder.) She said that she learned to have a "thick skin" and to focus on building relationships.
Meghan told Grede she once received the auditioning advice, "Don’t try to book the part, book the room." She explained, "It's not about the part. You’re going to see those producers and those casting directors at so many other opportunities. Book the room. Let them see that you’re talented. Let them see that you have something to bring to the table. Treat them with kindness. All of those relationships end up coming to fruition—you don’t know when, but just like with life, relationships matter."