Looking every inch the Hollywood star, a giddy Meghan Markle has been photographed on set in California as she shoots a new movie where she plays herself.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, is to appear alongside Lily Collins, Brie Larson and Jack Quaid – son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid – as well as British heartthrob Henry Golding in Close Personal Friends.

Meghan, wearing dark sunglasses, was all smiles on set in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The Duchess, seen wearing a casual white and navy pinstripe shirt, which she paired with an elegant white linen maxi skirt, waved excitedly to a member of the crew.

She added brown sandals and chic sunglasses for the warm weather in Pasadena, making for a relaxed look while filming. She also appeared to be wearing her staple £5,850 Cartier love bracelets and Princess Diana’s Cartier watch.

Meghan looked delighted as she climbed into a luxurious Range Rover and was swept to a large estate in the hills of Pasadena.

There the Duchess, who starred as Rachel Zane in Suits between 2011 and 2018, was filming a scene by the swimming pool for the Amazon MGM Studios production.

The mother-of-two is returning to acting eight years after her final scenes in the legal drama when she quit to marry Prince Harry and briefly become a working royal.

Meghan Markle is back on a movie set and acting again for the first time since she left Suits
Meghan Markle is back on a movie set and acting again for the first time since she left Suits

The Duchess of Sussex walked away from the craft when she married Harry but is said to be super excited to be back in the business
The Duchess of Sussex walked away from the craft when she married Harry but is said to be super excited to be back in the business

Meghan waved and smiled to production staff before she was swept to a large estate in the hills of Pasadena
Meghan waved and smiled to production staff before she was swept to a large estate in the hills of Pasadena
Meghan waved and smiled to production staff before she was swept to a large estate in the hills of Pasadena

She appeared to be wearing her staple £5,850 Cartier love bracelets and Princess Diana’s Cartier watch
She appeared to be wearing her staple £5,850 Cartier love bracelets and Princess Diana’s Cartier watch

The Duchess, who starred as Rachel Zane in Suits for seven years, was filming a scene by this swimming pool for the Amazon MGM Studios production.
The Duchess, who starred as Rachel Zane in Suits for seven years, was filming a scene by this swimming pool for the Amazon MGM Studios production.

A source close to the production has insisted that Meghan has been ‘swamped with offers’ for acting work ‘but this one felt right’.

The gig is with the full support of her husband because he knows acting ‘brings her joy’, the insider said.

Close Personal Friends follows two couples – one famous and the other, not.

Little is known yet about the plot, or Meghan’s role, but the couples at the heart of the script meet in Santa Barbara and ‘fast become friends’.

The Hollywood production she is filming couldn’t be more different to the last one she starred in, a low budget TV movie called Dater’s Handbook for the Hallmark Channel in 2016.

An LA insider has told the Daily Mail today that executives in Hollywood have been urging her to return to acting given her success in Suits, and the failure of some of her projects since she left the business and married Harry.

‘She’s finally seen sense’, the insider said.

Another Hollywood source told the Daily Mail that this is part of yet another Sussex relaunch.

‘Meghan’s in fully fledged celebrity mode, that’s all she can cash in on now, being a star with a lifestyle to match,’ they said.

‘Her playing herself in a film cameo is just stunt casting – just like when like Kate Moss played herself in Ab Fab movie’.

A source said that she had many offers of work in Hollywood but this one was the one she really wanted to pursue

The door of the Range Rover was held for her as she jumped in. Harry is said to be thrilled for her

Meghan is starring in the film alongside Henry Golding, Brie Larson, Lily Collins and Jack Quaid (left to right)

Branding it another PR power move as part of yet another wider Sussex relaunch, the insider said of her return to acting: ‘It’s fun and gets people talking. There will be lots more [stunts] in the next few months.’

Mark Borkowski, one of Britain’s leading PR gurus, said the timing of her appearance on set is intriguing given William is in Brazil promoting and celebrating his Earthshot Prize.

‘It’s not just dusting off her craft. It is trying to seize control’, Mr Borkowski said.

‘Andrew has been stripped of all his titles, palace in a mess trying to sanitise it all, and meanwhile Harry and Meghan have faded. When silence sets in someone like Meghan knows when it is time to make a move.

‘She is a magnet for attention, whether people like or loath her. It’s a reminder she can make headlines without lifting a finger’.

Meghan left Suits seven years ago and last appeared in a movie two years before that.

But she is stepping back in front of the film camera, teaming up with Collins, Larson, Quaid, and Brit heartthrob Golding for the upcoming film, which is in production.

The Duchess of Sussex starred as Rachel Zane in US legal drama Suits for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018

A source told The Sun: ‘This is a massive moment for Meghan and signifies a return to doing what she truly loves.

‘She has been swamped with offers but this one felt right.

‘Prince Harry is, of course, really supportive and quite simply wants Meghan to do whatever brings her joy.’

Meghan is best known for her role in the hit US TV-drama Suits, but also had Hollywood roles in Horrible Bosses, Get Him To The Greek and Remember Me.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the US.

The Duchess of Sussex previously claimed she struggled to get acting roles in her early career.

She told how she would get plenty of auditions but was regularly rejected by directors – which was a ‘lot to chip away at your self-esteem’.

Meghan was once a ‘briefcase girl’ – one of the models who hold the suitcases full of cash – on the US version of Deal Or No Deal.

Experts said the former royal may be having some trouble when it comes to finding ‘where she really fits’ as she attempts to juggle her As Ever lifestyle venture, public speaking engagements and her aspirations in the fashion world.

The Duchess also admitted in a recent podcast that she had ‘sometimes’ missed acting.

In 2015 she wrote in a blog post about how her role in Suits had changed her life forever, gushing: ‘I remember that day like it was yesterday. My cheeks still hurt from how hard I smiled.’

But as her relationship with Harry took off and went public towards the end of 2016, her role in Suits became precarious.

Acclaimed biographer Tom Bower wrote in his 2022 book Revenge: Meghan, Harry And The War Between The Windsors that the writer Aaron Korsh planned to write her out at the end of the 2017 season.

Considering her emerging new life as a member of the Royal Family and the need to refresh the series, he planned on having Meghan’s character Rachel leave New York.

Bower, who claimed he had conversations with 80 individuals who were personally acquainted with Harry and Meghan, wrote that after her agent Nick Collins heard the news he was ‘not encouraging’.

He wrote: ‘No film producer was offering her any major roles and no serious Hollywood director spoke about featuring Meghan in his movie or TV series. Just as she feared, her acting career was stymied. Her income after 2017 would plummet.’