Meghan Sussex does a movie

Now that it’s actually happening, this seemed inevitable, didn’t it? 

Meghan Sussex was seen yesterday on the set of Close Personal Friends. The film stars Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Henry Golding and Jack Quaid, about a couple on a trip to Santa Barbara and encounter a celebrity couple. They were filming in London a few weeks ago and production has now moved to California…which… I mean, that’s also the Sussex trajectory, right? So it sounds like it makes sense in the story for Meghan to be playing herself in a small role. 

My guess would be that Lily and Henry are the British couple who encounter Brie and Jack, the Americans. Lily doesn’t usually have a British accent but she can definitely do one, she has dual citizenship. 

As for Meghan’s return to acting, it’s definitely a get for this movie to have her make an appearance, and it’ll be interesting to see, when it comes time to promote it, whether they confirm how this happened. Maximum Effort is co-producing the project. This is Ryan Reynolds’s company and while his name isn’t on the credits, Ashley Fox and Johnny Pariseau are the producers working on the movie under the Maximum Effort banner. 

If Maximum Effort is involved, the marketing will also be a story when they’re rolling it out. And so far they’ve gotten a jump on it with the news that Meghan has joined the cast. The question will come up over and over again in the junket. Speaking of marketing… I wonder if part of her deal is product placement for her jams in the movie? LOL, but it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility. 

Maximum Effort is also known for viral ads. How much of Meghan will we see in the social media content that will be released with the film? 

And of course the bigger question – is Meghan now open for business for more acting assignments. The timing of this story couldn’t be more petty, and I’m here for it. Because just two days ago, Page Six claimed to have an “exclusive” about how Hollywood has “soured” on Meghan and Prince Harry. And then she shows up on a film set, pretty much the most Hollywood thing there is to do. It’s a delicious clapback, and I can’t imagine that there aren’t other projects out there who are looking for a bit of stunt casting, encouraged by this development who might want to do the same… if they haven’t already. How will that be reported? When all the scripts are being sent to Meghan’s representation for consideration, what will the spin be from the tabloids then? 

Let's Squawk about it! (App link here)