Patrick J. Adams has revealed new details about the audition that landed Meghan Markle her breakout role on “Suits.”
According to Adams, it was all about easy chemistry.
The 43-year-old “Suits” star talked about Markle’s audition on the second episode of his new SiriusXM show, “Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast,” which he hosts With Sarah Rafferty, Who played Donna Roberta Paulsen in the USA Network series.
It turns out Adams previously worked with Markle, 43, on a “terrible, terrible pilot” They spent time together on “Suits.”
“There was a romantic relationship developing in that particular pilot’s mind as well,” the actor said. “And then we never saw each other again. The pilot failed. It was horrible and gone. And so we never saw each other and never spoke to each other.
Years later, Adams booked the lead role of Mike Ross on “suit” Since she was first cast, the show’s producers were still searching for the actress to play Rachel Zane, a paralegal and Ross’s girlfriend.
Ross served as a scene partner for actresses who participated in the final round of auditions – colloquially known as the “chemistry reading”. As the name indicates, this final test determines whether sparks fly between the actor and the auditioning candidate who already has a job.
Adams remembered being surprised when he saw Markle studying chemistry.
“She was right there and she said, ‘Hi.’ And I said, ‘Oh my God! so good to see you!'”
According to Adams, the pair’s previous work helped smooth the actress’s path to success.
Adams explained, “And so I think just getting to know each other and being calm and not having that nervousness of getting to know each other really helped with the chemistry.” “And when we walked into that room it was clear we had an innate thing.”
In Adams’ view, Markle was simply a cut above the competition.
,[I]It was very clear, if I remember correctly, that from the moment we read chemistry, he was going to get that role,” he recalled. “It was much easier than any other.”
The scene Markle had to audition with was “a bear of an audition scene,” Rafferty said when he and Adams rewatched the “Suits” pilot.
,[A] The big one. And she crushed it,” Adams said. “She crushed it, and she crushes it on the show.”
Markle getting the job on “Suits” was a significant moment in her career. But, according to royal biographer Andrew Morton, “Meghan didn’t feel good about her audition.”
in his book “Meghan and the monarchy exposed” (an updated version of her book “Meghan: A Hollywood Princess”), Morton writes that Markle called her agent in the car while returning from an audition, without even thinking about it.
“She told him that she was not able to use her mind properly. Morton claims that it was the worst audition of his life.
“I don’t think I did a good job in that room, and I need to go back there,” she said, crying. ‘I really want this part.’
But Markle didn’t need to worry. Show creator Aaron Korsh told Vanity Fair In 2017, he succeeded in the audition.
“We all looked at each other [after Markle’s screen test] Like, wow, it’s the one!” He said. “I think it’s because Meghan has the ability to be smart and edgy but without losing her sweetness.”
Markle made a last-minute move before her audition that was instrumental in getting the show: She went to H&M for a new dress.
Morton writes, “Meghan wore sexy-professional-casual clothes to screen-test for the role.” “After a while, she realized that the plum-colored spaghetti-strap top, black jeans and heels she was wearing was more a single female attorney than an attractive paralegal with extensive knowledge of the law.”
“So, right before her audition, Meghan went to an H&M store, bought a simple black dress for $35 and ran back to the studio.”
According to the royal writer, “she didn’t even have time to try it on for size,” but producers told her to wear the dress instead of jeans and a top.
As Morton said, “It was the best $35 he ever spent.”
New episodes of SiriusXM’s “Sidebar: A Suits Watch Podcast” are available every Tuesday on the SiriusXM app and wherever podcasts are available.
