Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be together in London for the first time since Sussexit was confirmed tomorrow for the Endeavour Fund Awards. On Friday they’ll attend the Mountbatten Festival of Music at Royal Albert Hall. And on Saturday Meghan is rumoured to be making an appearance at Vogue’s Forces For Change event. She guest-edited the magazine’s Forces For Change September 2019 issue. Meghan is also expected to participate in International Women’s Day through the weekend, although specifically where she’ll show up has not been confirmed. Sunday, of course, is Commonwealth Day service and the Sussexes will be with other members of the British Royal Family at Westminster Abbey.
Ahead of their return to the scene, there have been all kinds of rumours flying around about their future plans. According to the Daily Mail, Meghan’s asked her agents to put her in a superhero movie. Since this is the Daily Mail, how legit is this? Probably not that legit, especially the way they’re positioning the story as a wild grab at any opportunity.
Being in a superhero movie is a multi-year commitment and almost never a one-off, not if you’re interested in playing one of the superheroes. Robert Downey Jr was Tony Stark/Iron Man for 12 years across 9 movies. The Avengers were built around him so that’s the extreme end of the spectrum but in no universe are they putting that much into casting a superhero for a one and done situation the way the Daily Mail is describing it.
If Meghan Markle becomes a member of any superhero universe, then, it’s more than just, hey, agent, find me anything. It has to be THE thing. And there happens to be a director who’s working on a superhero project that aligns with many of the Sussex values: Ava DuVernay.
She’s working on an adaptation of The New Gods and, since it’s Ava, even though the story is about people with superpowers, her narrative will be doing much more than simply showing good guys fighting bad guys. Ava’s superhero unit will be inclusive and representative, as is the focus of all of her work. Which means that should Meghan be a part of it, she’ll be part of something that’s bigger than just the movie industry.
That said, they’re years away from making this happen. As of December, Ava said she’s still working on the script. Even if the script was ready today (it’s not), and they fast-track it, they wouldn’t start rolling until at least second half of 2021. And even on an accelerated post-production schedule, a 2023 release seems aggressive. Nobody is talking about casting yet. Dreaming of actors, sure. Actually casting? Nowhere near that stage.
Still, it doesn’t mean that Meghan won’t be taking Hollywood meetings for another kind of acting project. Meghan, before Harry, was nowhere near the fame level she is now. She is now at a recognition point that almost all of them want to get to, even though they’ll never admit it. That thirst doesn’t go away. Both Meghan and Harry enjoy the spotlight – on their terms – and I wonder whether or not it would kinda turn Harry on to see his wife step back onto a set in front of a camera.
But for them, it’s thirst + prestige. What kind of acting and what kind of character would suit her station now? And… well… does she have the skill? You don’t have to be a hater to say that Meghan’s career before Harry didn’t offer much in the way of answering that question. And they don’t usually stunt cast for prestige projects.
The other rumour that came out the last few days about Meghan was the Met Gala. According to The Sun, Meghan will be at the Met Gala with British Vogue editor Edward Enninful the first Monday in May, also May the Fourth. Anna Wintour certainly wouldn’t object. But is this really happening?
Archie Harrison Windsor Mountbatten is a Met Gala baby. He was born on May 6, 2019, the day of the 2019 Met Gala. Which means his first birthday will be two days after this year’s Met Gala, on a Wednesday. There’s no scheduling conflict but I wonder whether or not Harry and Meghan will want to be preoccupied with Met Gala drama so close to their first child’s first birthday.
I get why the Met Gala would be tempting for Meghan though. Before she became a member of the British royal family, she was never a big enough name to be invited. And she wasn’t getting close to becoming a big enough name to be invited. Now, though, in her position, she’s a big enough name not only to attend, but to co-chair. The 2020 Met Gala co-chairs have already been announced. Nicolas Ghesquiere and Louis Vuitton will represent the designer label on the board, and Meryl Streep, Emma Stone, and Lin Manuel-Miranda are the celebrity members alongside Anna Wintour.
A better time for Meghan to be at the Met Gala, and as a co-chair, would be if Clare Waight Keller and Givenchy are part of the co-chair team. There’s already a connection there, and it’s a much more elevated entry point to go along with her own royal status.
Still, The Sun is so sure about it that they’ve already reported that Meghan’s decided to with a “glamorous androgynous look” in keeping with this year’s Met Gala theme. So, like, she’s Tilda Swinton now?
I mean… it’s a stretch. Meghan Markle is many things – she’s an excellent communicator, she’s intelligent and understands modern media, she’s industrious, she’s committed to her work…but it’d be a stretch to say that she has all that much style imagination or adventurism. In fact, some of her outfits haven’t been all that well executed (see the blue and white striped shirt at Wimbledon). She is best dressed when she’s wearing Givenchy and the fashion house team puts together the look. But “glamorous androgynous” is a big swing. If this is true, I’m really curious to see if she can pull it off.