What Was Meghan Markle’s First TV Role? Details About Her Acting Career

Meghan Markle’s known for starring as Rachel Zane on the USA show “Suits” for seven seasons, but her acting career started almost a decade before she landed that role.

In 2011, the Duchess of Sussex’s legal series began, but it was in 2002 when she had her first onscreen acting gig. She played Nurse Jill in an episode of the long-running soap opera “General Hospital.”

While she was only in one episode of the series and wasn’t a recurring star, her character did have a few speaking lines in the Nov. 14, 2002 storyline.

The pregnant royal was likely already very familiar with the show because her father, Thomas Markle, used to work as the lighting director for “General Hospital.” He worked on over 20 episodes, beginning with his first one in 1979. His daughter, Meghan, then showed up to set years later as a first-time actress.

It would be two more years before Prince Harry’s wife landed another TV role. This time, it was a 2004 episode of the short-lived legal drama, “Century City,” on CBS that starred Viola Davis and Nestor Carbonell. While Meghan wasn’t on this series for long either, her early TV work helped her later land her major “Suits” role.

She’s since retired from acting, instead focusing on her new life as part of the British royal family.