Both stars are reportedly eyeing an early departure from the long-running USA Network legal drama.
Is Meghan Markle trading in the legal world for a royal wedding?
The 36-year-old actress is reportedly eyeing an early exit from Suits after the current seventh season, multiple outlets report. Markle’s co-star, Patrick J. Adams, 36, is also said to be poised to depart following season seven.
Both Markle and Adams, who have been with USA Network’s longest-running drama since its inception in 2011, play paralegal-turned-lawyer Rachel Zane and fellow attorney Mike Ross, who are engaged to be married on the show.
Markle and Adams’ shocking potential exits come as The Hollywood Reporter reports that Suits is “close” to being renewed for an eighth season. Reps for Adams and USA Network declined to comment.
Speculation that Markle would leave Suits first surfaced after her romance with Prince Harry went public in 2016. Royal expert Katie Nicholl told ET in October that sources have told her “Meghan is likely to be moving to London as soon as November. She’s not signing up for another [season] of Suits. She’s planning to leave Canada and make London her new, permanent home.”
Markle opened up for the first time about her relationship with Harry in the October issue of Vanity Fair, confessing that the public attention surrounding their romance “has its challenges and it comes in waves -- some days it can feel more challenging than others. And right out of the gate, it was surprising the way things changed. But I still have this support system all around me, and of course, my boyfriend’s support.”
For Adams, who has directed a handful of Suits episodes (including the 100th), he told ET back in March that he’s “grateful” viewers continue to “tune in every single week” to see what the characters “are up to.” “If you’re lucky, you get a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be a part of something like that,” Adams said at the time. “I’m very grateful and I’m super excited that we get another season to try and keep making the show better and keeping people loving what we’re doing.”
Should both leave the series, their departures wouldn’t be the first major cast shift for Suits, which said goodbye to Gina Torres, who plays Jessica Pearson, on a full-time basis last September. Torres ended up returning for several cameos and will star in a Suits spinoff, which will refocus her character in the world of Chicago politics. The offshoot’s first episode will air as a planted episode in the flagship series.
Suits returns for the second half of season seven in early 2018.
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