Before making it in show business, Meghan Markle rubbed shoulders with some of the most successful sitcom actors in Hollywood.
It’s no secret that the Duchess of Sussex, 42, was a well-established actress in her own right before becoming a royal — and she got her start in front of the camera at a very young age.
Markle’s first uncredited acting role was on the hit sitcom “Married… with Children,” which ran from 1988 until 1997.
She got to see the ins and outs of a TV show set thanks to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, who worked as a lighting director and director of photography for the show.
This week, a resurfaced image from an episode the duchess appeared in showed her as a teen in season 9 of the sitcom.
In the 1995 episode, titled “The Undergraduate,” Meghan played a student, and appeared in a scene with Christina Applegate and David Faustino.
In 2019, Ed O’Neill, who starred as Al Bundy on the hit sitcom, told Ellen DeGeneres all about Meghan’s little-known connection to the show.
“She [Meghan] grew up on the set of ‘Married With Children.’ Did you know that? Her father was a camera operator,” the “Modern Family” alum said. “And she used to come on the set in her little Catholic school uniform. She was, like, 9.”
Even though Meghan doesn’t boast any credits as an extra on the show, O’Neill said she spent a lot of time on set due to her dad’s job.
Meghan revealed in 2018 that she visited the sitcom’s set “every day after school” for a decade.
“Every day after school for 10 years, I was on the set of ‘Married With Children,’ which is a really funny and perverse place for a little girl in a Catholic school uniform to grow up,” she told Esquire at the time.
“There were a lot of times my dad would say, ‘Meg, why don’t you go and help with the craft services room over there? This is just a little off-color for your 11-year-old eyes.’”
While she wasn’t allowed to watch the show at home, she “could watch the end credits so I could give the screen a kiss when I saw my dad’s name go by.”
Markle also gushed about the guest stars she would see on set.
“You gotta think, there were guest stars like Tia Carrere and Traci Lords and Nikki Cox. Those were the kind of women coming in every day,” she told the publication.
“Just picture me with my curly hair and a gap in my teeth and my little school uniform with Keds on, looking up like, ‘Hi,’ at these very, uh, provocative women. It was a big change from Immaculate Heart Catholic School,” she added.
Meghan went on to gain acting credits in several projects before landing the biggest — and final — role of her career as Rachel Zane on “Suits.”
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