Appreciated elsewhere for brains: When Meghan was supposed to pull in her stomach on television

Duchess Meghan once worked in show business.

Appreciated elsewhere for brains: When Meghan was supposed to pull in her stomach on television

Duchess Meghan once worked in show business. This was before her series role on Suits. Meghan has a lot of negative memories from the time. In her podcast she talks about artificial eyelashes, padded bras and a situation that she remembers to this day.

Podcasts are often about personal things – as is the case with Duchess Meghan. In a new episode of her podcast "Archetypes" on Spotify, the 41-year-old talks about painful experiences during her television career. Although these are a long time ago, they have apparently made an impression on the Duchess.

So she recently had some time to zap through US TV, which doesn't happen often with two small children. Meghan came across the game show "Deal Or No Deal". Before Meghan rose to prominence as an actress, most notably for her role on Suits, she also worked as "Briefcase Girl" on the US version of the show. She describes her experience on the show as "fascinating". At that time, right at the beginning of her acting career, she was grateful for this job with which she could pay her bills. But there was also a downside, as listeners to her podcast find out.

On the set, the 41-year-old had to think back to an even earlier career step, her time as an intern at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires. There she was "expressly appreciated for my brain" - but on the show for "the opposite", as she says.

There were several stations before performances. The young women, who acted purely as models and were supposed to hold briefcases on stage, were given extensions and artificial eyelashes, among other things, and bras were also padded. This is how the women should all have looked according to a certain pattern. "It was all about beauty and not necessarily about brains," Meghan continues.

She will never forget a certain situation. "'Markel', pull in your stomach," a woman who couldn't pronounce her name called out just before she went on stage. Markle is the Duchess's maiden name. To this day she can still hear the voice of the TV employee who was responsible for the production. Eventually Meghan got out. She was grateful for the job, but not for how she felt about it - as "not smart". It felt like she was reduced to that particular archetype. At that time she was objectified and knew "that I was so much more [...]".