Theo James Weighs in on Meghan Markle’s Potential ‘The Gentlemen’ Role

Theo James has finally weighed in on the Meghan Markle casting saga surrounding The Gentlemen, and the show's star doesn't sound convinced there's much of a story—at least not yet.

James, who plays Eddie Horniman in Guy Ritchie's Netflix crime drama, was asked by Town & Country about reports that Markle could join the recently renewed series for its third season. He initially responded with a joke, invoking another famous former royal. “Yes, Fergie is joining,” James said with a smile. “She’ll be playing my love interest.”

Then he got serious.

“No, I think that was mainly a lot of hot air,” James said of the coverage surrounding Markle. “At the moment, we’re just trying to get as many eyes on season two, and then season three will happen soon.”

While the show's broader direction is already taking shape, James said the specifics remain unsettled: “In terms of the minutiae, I mean, it’s still very much up in the air.”

That's the clearest pushback yet from someone actually starring in The Gentlemen, but it doesn't completely settle a casting story that has generated contradictory reports for weeks.

Deadline previously reported that Markle was in talks to join Season 3 following news that she and Prince Harry were relocating to Britain with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

The Hollywood Reporter similarly reported that a potential role was being written, while People maintained that discussions remained ongoing even after reports surfaced claiming the opportunity had been withdrawn.

Netflix hasn't exactly cleared things up. Asked about Markle at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Manda Levin, the streamer's U.K. scripted chief, responded with an equally memorable four words: “All bets are off.”

Whatever happens with Markle, Season 3 itself is no longer hypothetical. Netflix officially renewed The Gentlemen last month, and James says the series is looking to expand beyond the British estates and criminal networks that established its world. Season 2 ventures into Italian aristocracy, while James said he'd be interested in taking the series into the Middle East—and, for more personal reasons, the south of France.

The actor also sees plenty of material left in the show's collision of enormous wealth, inherited status and criminal ambition. “People are fascinated by the idea of wealth and how wealth can corrupt people, ultimately,” James said.

He also pointed to the show's less romanticized undercurrent beneath its old-money British setting: “There’s a romance to ex-colonial Britain, but it’s also tinged with all the f*cked-up sh*t that we did as an empire.”

Markle's name entering the conversation has nevertheless put additional attention on The Gentlemen just as its second season arrives. A role would represent her most substantial return to scripted television since leaving Suits in 2018, although she has already filmed a cameo as herself in the upcoming Close Personal Friends.