How Meghan Markle Used to Pay Her Bills Before Landing Her Successful Role in 'Suits'

Meghan Markle was struggling for a project to establish herself as an actor in Hollywood and that's when the Suits happened. Her role as Rachel Zane in the Netflix drama brought her into the limelight and the big names began to recognize her. However, before she was discovered for the role, Markle was navigating her way through the entertainment industry with other jobs. 

Calligraphy was among Markle's other talents and her impressive handwriting initially helped her in paying her bills. Although the art form is now dying, it proved to be a lucrative deal for the Duchess of Sussex and she could make ends meet and go for the auditions until 2011 when she got Suits. But, before calligraphy, she had other plans, as per Nicki Swift.

The 42-year-old told Marie Claire in 2013, "I knew I wanted to do acting, but I hated the idea of being this cliché — a girl from L.A. who decides to be an actress. I wanted more than that, and I had always loved politics." Since her father was a photography and lighting director, Markle had the opportunity to witness the filming process on the sets of Married... with Children. 

However, because of her love of politics, she opted for international relations as a second major other than theater at Northwestern University. Argentina was her next stop as a student and there she spent a couple of months as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires. This opportunity helped her learn another valuable skill- language. Markle became fluent in Spanish and when her political career was about to take off, life redirected her to her childhood talent calligraphy. 

As a kid, she attended Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, where she had a handwriting class and it opened doors of opportunities for her later in life. What it evolved into was my pseudo-waitressing job when I was auditioning. I didn't wait tables. I did calligraphy for the invitations for, like, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton's wedding," Markle told Esquire in 2018. 

Patton, who divorced Thike in 2015, sang praises of Markle's calligraphy talent, "I just thought Meghan did a beautiful job. It really is a lost art, and it was so nice to create something without a device that doesn't use a battery or need to be plugged in." The former actress landed a deal with brands like Dolce & Gabbana for their holiday correspondence. 

"I would sit there with a little white tube sock on my hand so no hand oils got on the card, trying to pay my bills while auditioning," admitted Markle. Years later, when she married Prince Harry and became a member of the royal family, she didn't throw her pre-wedding passions out the window. Instead, she designed her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchards logo in her own handwriting. 

Meanwhile, a source told Daily Mail that Markle hasn't given up on her political pursuits and some pundits are even speculating that she's eyeing the presidentship. And her recent trip to Nigeria was to test the waters.