Wendell Pierce is a wonderful actor of stage and screen. He’s been a working actor for decades, mixing up his CV with TV, Broadway and film roles. He’s been in everything from Law & Order to Ray Donovan to one of the Twilight movies. He played a recurring character on Suits for many years as well – Robert Zane, the fictional father to then-Meghan Markle’s fictional Rachel Zane. Meghan and Wendell got along really well, and it always seemed like he took an interest in her life and career. Maybe he even offered some professional and personal guidance, advice or mentorship. He seems especially fond of her in a fatherly way, which is funny because Meghan’s actual father is so completely awful. Wendell Pierce has never sold her out. In fact, any opportunity he gets, he’s singing her praises and defending her. That’s what he did on the red carpet at the Tony Awards too:
Wendell Pierce is spilling the details on his most recent reunion with Suits costar Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. While speaking to PEOPLE at the 2024 Tony Awards in New York City on Sunday, June 16, the actor, 60, says the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were “very much in love” when he met up with the pair last year.
“When [Meghan] came into town, she got an award last year, had a chance to say hello and wish she and Prince Harry well and wish the children well,” Pierce tells PEOPLE. “They look very much in love and were very happy, so that’s the most important thing.”
Pierce, who played the father of Meghan’s character Rachel Zane on Suits, says that working with her on the legal drama was “a blast.” He adds that since the show ended in 2019, he has reunited with the Meghan, 42, “a few times.”
“I’ve gotten to see her just a few times since, and we’ve been able to reminisce and so it’s real, we have fond memories of working together,” the Tony Award winner shares.
While discussing the show at the Tony Awards on Sunday, Pierce also shared his reaction to the renewed popularity of Suits on Netflix, after the series broke record-breaking streaming numbers on the streaming service in 2023.
“It did surprise me,” the actor tells PEOPLE. “We finished the show almost eight years ago, and so to have this resurgence is pretty amazing.”
It feels like the whole cast of Suits was surprised by its sudden streaming popularity. I imagine they were also surprised by how little they received in residuals, because actors are really getting f–ked over by their shows becoming massively popular on streaming. But I digress. It makes me so happy that Meghan still makes time for her TV dad, and that he still takes such a fatherly interest in her. I love how we find out months or years after the fact that Meghan and Harry checked in with so-and-so or they made a low-key visit somewhere. It shows that they really are discreet.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.