Meghan Markle: ‘I was told I wasn’t pretty or thin enough to crack Hollywood’

Prince Harry's fiancée had to battle insecurities at the beginning of her career 
Not pretty enough? Meghan Markle battled insecurities in Hollywood
Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
David Gardner6 December 2017
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Meghan Markle revealed how she battled “soul sucking” insecurities to break through in Hollywood where she was branded “not thin enough, not pretty enough”.

In an article written two years ago, Prince Harry’s fiancée, now 36, described the turning point in her struggle to make a mark in the entertainment industry.

Although pre-dating her relationship with Prince Harry, the article explains for the first time how she found the confidence that set her on the path to fame and her royal romance.

Writing in Darling magazine about her early days auditioning for roles, Ms Markle revealed she drove a “beat-up Ford Explorer Sport that rattled like a steamboat engine” with front doors that were jammed so she had to crawl in through the boot.

(PA Wire)
PA

“I was in my early twenties, still figuring so much out, and trying to find my value in an industry that judges you on everything that you’re not versus everything that you are.

“Not thin enough, not pretty enough, not ethnic enough, while also being too thin, too ethnic, too pretty the very next day,” she explained.

“I would drive to auditions and park at the back of the parking lot, far from the eyes of anyone who could see me unlocking the trunk and crawling into my car through its only feasible entry point.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle

1/82

"I would play it off as though I was looking for something, reaching so deep for something that my car almost sucked me in to get it — much like my experience with Hollywood, to be honest.

“Struggling, climbing hurdles, searching for something that I couldn’t even see — and just reaching for it. Every single day,” she wrote.

Just as Los Angeles-born Ms Markle’s dreams appeared to be “unapologetically impossible” she met someone who would change her life, Hollywood casting director April Webster, famous for her work on hits like Star Wars, Lost and Mission Impossible.

“I had never met her before, and at my very first audition for her, she stopped me mid-scene and said so simply, ‘You need to know that you’re enough,’” Ms Markle recalled. “She saw all that self-doubt beaming through the self-tanner and excessive blush.

“You couldn’t pay for a therapy session this good. And that moment, for me, was a wake-up call,” she continued. Soon she had been cast as Rachel in a pilot of a new show called Suits.

“Never would I have imagined that this show would not just change my career, but also change my life — that on my journey of trying to get what I wanted, of trying to see my dream come to fruition, I would learn who I am,” she added. “That I would discover that I am enough.”

Meghan Markle - In pictures

1/40

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in