Meghan Markle Was Pretty Close To Being The Next Bond Girl, Before, Y’know

Before she scored her dream role as an actual, legit member of Britain‘s royal family, Meghan Markle was in consideration for another high-profile gig – that of a Bond girl, alongside Daniel Craig in the upcoming 25th instalment of the James Bond series.

UK newspaper The Sun report that the producers of the long-running franchise were eyeing off the former Suits star, with a source close to the production saying:

“Meghan fits the role of a Bond girl perfectly. She’s glamorous and sexy and a good actress. The role more recently has gone to actresses deemed to be rising stars, and Meghan certainly was seen as that before her relationship with Harry became public. The brief was to find a glamorous rising star, specifically someone American or Canadian.”

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry became engaged, however, her acting career was effectively over, thanks to all that time planning royal weddings and being an intensely high-profile public figure and whatnot, and this ruled her out of the part:

“Producers had narrowed down her and four other actresses on a shortlist last year with Bond 25 in mind. But the minute her relationship to Harry came to light they assumed she was out of the running so it soon became a list of four. Her engagement effectively spelt an end to her acting career too so that was the final blow.”

While marrying a prince and leading a life of untold wealth and luxury does sound a bit nicer than acting as a brief bit of arm candy for Daniel Craig before getting killed off in some horrible way, it does seem a bit unfair that Meghan has to give up her career to tie the knot.

This is 2017, for chrissakes – giving up your job for your spouse is a totally archaic concept, so Meghan should be allowed to star in whatever action movie she wants and marry whatever prince she wants, although she has not yet commented on the possible Bond casting.

Matt Smith, who plays Prince Philip on the Netflix series The Crown, recently said that he feels bad for Meghan Markle as she enters her new way of life, telling an audience at a panel discussion:

“I feel sorry for her. It’s such a transition in her life, and it’s such a huge thing to take on. Life as she knows it is gone. But hey, she’s marrying the prince of Britain—how exciting for her.”

The actor said more-or-less the same thing during a recent appearance alongside Claire Foy on Andy Cohen‘s Watch What Happens Live

Aussie actress Margot Robbie was at one point the bookies’ favourite to take the role of the next Bond girl, and Baywatch actress Ilfenesh Hadera is reportedly also near the top of the list.

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