Was Meghan Markle Ever in a Hallmark Movie? How to Watch ‘Dater’s Handbook’ and ‘When Sparks Fly’
These days, she’s known as the Duchess of Sussex, but before she joined the British royal family, Meghan Markle was an actress. Her most famous role was on the USA’s legal drama Suits, where she played Rachel Zane, but her acting resume also includes many other television appearances, including a couple of appearances on the Hallmark Channel.
Meghan’s Hallmark Channel movies
Hallmark Channel devotees know that “commoner falls in love with a royal” makes up an entire sub-genre of films at the network. Movies like Crown for Christmas, A Royal Winter, and My Summer Prince entertain those who want to see a modern-day Cinderella story play out on screen. But who could have guessed that one of the network’s stars would go on to star in a real-life version of these stories?
Before she was swept into the royal life, the duchess-to-be starred in two Hallmark Channel movies (neither of which involves her falling in love with a prince, unfortunately). The first was in
Amy’s relationship with her businessman boyfriend Phil (Locklyn Munro) isn’t working when her editor gives her a new assignment. She’ll head back to her small hometown to write about her parent’s firework business in honor of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. Back home, her best friend enlists her help in planning her wedding. One hitch? She’s marrying Amy’s ex-boyfriend Hank (Christopher Jacot), who Amy just might still have feelings for.
Meghan’s second turn at Hallmark Channel stardom was in 2016’s Dater’s Handbook. In this movie, she plays Cassandra Barber, a woman who has a bad habit of picking the wrong guys. She turns to Dr. Susie and her new self-help book The Dater’s Handbook for help, eventually having to choose between reliable George (Jonathan Srafe) and fun-loving Robert (Kristoffer Polaha).
Why she says she likes Hallmark movies
Meghan had nothing but good things to say about working for the Hallmark Channel.
“I think Hallmark is such an amazing network to work for,” she said in a video promoting Dater’s Handbook. “It’s just really heartwarming, and affirming, and validating. I think in this day and age it’s so nice for families to be able to watch programming together. With stories like this it keeps it really light and easy and it makes everybody feel good. At the end of a long day that’s what I want to watch.”
How to watch Meghan’s Hallmark movies
Fans of the Duchess of Sussex who want to revisit her earlier acting work are in luck. Hallmark will be showing Dater’s Handbook on Thursday, May 2 at 4 p.m. ET and again on Monday, May 13 at 10 p.m. (Set your DVR!)
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there are any upcoming airings of When Sparks Fly planned, though we wouldn’t be surprised if it shows up on TV around the Fourth of July. In the meantime, you can purchase it for $6.99 from Amazon Prime Video. Dater’s Handbook is also available for $6.99.
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