Prince Harry Would ‘Love’ for Meghan Markle to ‘Get Back Into Acting’ and Become a Hollywood Star

That’s one way to celebrate a wedding anniversary. On May 18, Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle marked their sixth year of marriage with dinner at Lucky’s steakhouse in Montecito, California. They were joined by friends Tracy Robbins and her husband, Brian, the CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon. Seems the couple spent their special night schmoozing with Hollywood power players.

It’s all a part of Harry’s ongoing mission to turn Meghan, 42, into a bigtime movie star. As far back as 2020, the former royal was caught chatting up his wife with Disney mogul Bob Iger at the London premiere of The Lion King. The Suits actress “does voice-overs” and was “really interested” in working with him, Harry, 39, told the high-powered exec. “It’s known within Harry and Meghan’s circle that he’d love for her to get back into acting,” a source exclusively tells In Touch. “He thinks it’s a shame she’s not a superstar like A-listers Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts, and he’s pulling as many strings as he can.”

It’s all a bit cringe for the Duchess of Sussex, says the source. “After marrying Harry she always envisaged her life being more aristocratic versus dealing with that day-to-day grind of Hollywood.”

When Harry and Meghan first got together back in early 2016, he was ecstatic to have landed a celebrity girlfriend who was famous in her own right. “Harry was beyond excited to be dating a bona fide star,” says the source, noting that the father of two (he and Meghan share Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 2) was a “huge” Suits fan. “He binge watched all the episodes and would tell his friends how sexy and talented he thought Meghan was,” the source adds. “When she showed interest in him it was like a dream come true.” (In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry writes that Meghan was forced to give up her starring role in the successful legal series after seven seasons because the Palace began interfering with scripts.)

The source says Harry’s always had a big fascination with the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. “Growing up, he and William would watch classic movies that their mom would recommend. Harry also loved all the famous ’90s rom-coms like Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle and Sliding Doors.”

Since leaving the royal family in 2020, the Montecito, California-based couple’s big plans to conquer Hollywood have so far fallen flat. In 2023, Meghan’s $20 million deal with Spotify fizzled out when her Archetypes podcast was canceled after one season, and their $100 million deal with Netflix hasn’t produced any major hits beyond their Harry & Meghan docuseries, which was well-received but failed to garner any award nominations.

Harry believes Meghan’s return to acting could turn the tide for them. “He thinks it would be so cool for Meghan to get back on screen and take her acting abilities to the next level,” says the source. Meghan has different ideas — and isn’t exactly thrilled that Harry’s been trying to push her on studio big shots. “It’s a little embarrassing,” says the source. She’s focused on her philanthropy work and the launch of her new lifestyle line, American Riviera Orchard (in April, Meghan sent jars of her new jam to celeb pals including Kris Jenner and Chrissy Teigen).

“Meghan’s more motivated by the type of service and activism that Princess Diana was synonymous with,” says the source. “She’s flattered Harry is so keen but she’s more focused on other things now.”