Suits creator Aaron Korsh has sent the rumour mill into overdrive after writing a new spin-off show with a role perfect for Meghan Markle.
The Duchess of Sussex left the hit legal drama in the season seven finale as her character Rachel Zane tied the knot with Mike Ross (played by Patrick J. Adams) and moved to Seattle. But fans now think she could return to acting in a new role.
Aaron has scripted a brand-new show about employees at a Hollywood law firm. One character, Erica, seems to have been created just for Meghan. Erica is a career-focused Californian girl in her 30s who is “smarter than everyone” and has a very eventful personal life.
The new character seems very similar to Meghan’s previous role as Rachel. Aaron’s new show is being developed by NBCUniversal. It’s currently unclear if any of the original Suits cast will make an appearance in the new series.
The growing speculation about Meghan’s potential return to Suits comes after her co-star Patrick said he “hopes she comes back”. He spoke about a potential spinoff for Suits at the Golden Globe Awards and said: “Yes, yes let’s go, I’ll do it. Yeah, I’m ready, Mike and Rachel in Seattle.”
Following Patrick’s comments, one expert suggested Meghan could make a lot of money if she agrees to return. Speaking to The Mirror, PR expert Mayah Riaz said: “In terms of her fee, given Meghan’s increased profile since leaving Suits, it is reasonable to expect that her asking price would be significantly higher than her previous salary.”
She suggested the actress could negotiate a fee in the range of $300,000-$400,000 (£235,000-£314,000) per episode. Mayah added: “There could be an opportunity to explore potential profit-sharing or backend deals to maximise this figure.”
The Duchess of Sussex reportedly earned £37,000 per episode and recorded more than 100 episodes of Suits, putting her annual salary at £333,000. As part of her contract with the show, Meghan is still earning royalties from her appearances.
Meghan has previously spoken fondly about her time on Suits and even referred to the cast as her “family”. During a 2017 appearance at the ATX Television Festival, she said: “We were in a group email the other day, and I was saying we’d all lived in the same corporate housing — so on top of working together, we were living together — which makes a whole different dynamic, I think. We just became this whole family right out the gate.”
