Meghan Markle’s rise to duchess status may seem like a recent royal plot twist, but her journey to the crown was anything but a royal procession. Before gracing the palace halls, Meghan Markle’s appearances in the public eye were sporadic, far from the spotlight’s constant glare; her earlier days included roles and gigs that no one would have predicted enough to even cause a jump scare; think less tiaras, more odd jobs, minor acting parts that barely registered on the Hollywood radar. Before the Duchess treatment, there were some decidedly unglamorous stops along the way.

If you blinked, you missed it. The Duchess of Sussex’s Hollywood footprint once included a role so brief it might as well have been a royal wave from a distant balcony, quick, polite, and leaving everyone wondering if it actually happened.

From package delivery to palace entry: Meghan Markle’s blink of an eye Hollywood cameo

One such stop was a blink-and-you-miss-it role in a 2011 comedy about less-than-stellar supervisors: Horrible Bosses. Meghan Markle’s screen time in this film was fleeting, just about half a minute, but it was enough to plant her in the cinematic universe. She played a delivery worker, a character so minor that the film’s plot barely paused for her presence. Yet, this brief stint was more than a mere cameo; it was a small scene where she interacted with a lead character, delivering a package and exchanging a few lines. The role was hardly regal, but it was a stepping stone in her acting career before she became a household name.

The film itself, a comedy revolving around the misadventures of employees dealing with dreadful managers, featured Meghan Markle as a FedEx delivery person named Jamie. In the scene, the character played by Jason Sudeikis engages in awkward flirting, humorously questioning whether something might jump out of a package and cause harm. Meghan Markle’s character, unfazed, calmly dismisses the absurdity, simply stating that she was “just the FedEx girl“. The exchange, though brief, showcased her early screen presence, far from the duchess’s polished public persona but undeniably part of her journey.

From trading barbs with a fictional tyrant-ridden workforce to navigating centuries-old royal drama, Meghan Markle’s career shift is the kind of plot twist that even the best scriptwriters might envy. 

From horrible bosses to real, royal ones

Meghan Markle’s trajectory is nothing if not dramatic. The transition from comedic boss battles to real-life palace intrigues might have sparked more than a few raised eyebrows behind the scenes. While the comedy’s lead struggled to keep his Horrible Bosses satisfied, the present-day Duchess of Sussex found herself in a far more challenging arena, where the stakes are centuries old and the players, well, a bit more formidable. It is not hard to imagine that her presence may have ruffled some royal feathers, stirring quiet storms in the hallowed halls.

Ultimately, Markle’s path led her from fleeting film roles to holding a title once reserved for the most traditional of figures, including the late Queen Elizabeth herself. Whether or not she ever unintentionally disrupted the royal status quo, she certainly earned the rare privilege of disappointing the sovereign, a feat few have managed. From a minor part in a forgettable comedy to becoming a headline-grabbing duchess, Meghan Markle’s story is a royal saga with unexpected twists, proving that even the most surprising beginnings can lead to a throne of their own kind.

Are there any other blink-long Hollywood roles of Meghan Markle that you know of? Let us know in the comments below.