EXCLUSIVE: Secrets of Meghan Markle's Failed and Brutal Battle to Become World-Famous Actress Revealed — Before She Suddenly Gave Up Dreams of Fame for Harry

Meghan Markle fought for years to make it in Hollywood, enduring rejection and bit-part roles before finally achieving recognition – and RadarOnline.com has the inside story of her relentless ambition, which she suddenly chucked away when she met Prince Harry.

The now 44-year-old Duchess of Sussex, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended private school close to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, spent more than a decade chasing stardom.

Her struggle has been laid bare in biographies and resurfaced resumes, which reveal the long trail of auditions, walk-on roles and temporary jobs she accepted while waiting for her breakthrough.

A source who knew her in those years said: "Meghan went after acting with everything she had. She was turned down again and again, but she never quit. Fame was her goal, and she was ready to grab any chance that might get her closer."

Her father, Thomas Markle, who has been estranged from Meghan for years, once described his daughter's ambition to author Tom Bower.

He said: "She wants to be the star of the stage and the star in life."

Thomas had used his own connections to help her, even taking the 17-year-old Meghan to the Emmy awards, where she walked the red carpet and told him: "Daddy, I want to be famous just like you one day."

Meghan's early career was filled with small parts – a nurse in General Hospital, a guest role on Century City and a fleeting turn in the 2005 Ashton Kutcher film A Lot Like Love.

Her CV at the time listed training in "voice for performance" and "musical comedy" alongside skills in French, Spanish, dance and kickboxing.

Yet by 2006, she was working as a suitcase model on the game show Deal Or No Deal.

Reflecting later on her early career, she admitted: "Working on Deal Or No Deal was a learning experience and it helped me to understand what I would rather be doing."

Her fortunes rose slowly – a pilot here, a walk-on part there – until casting director April Webster stopped her during an audition and told her: "You need to know that you're enough."

According to royal biographer Sean Smith, that moment became a mantra that helped Meghan push through years of near misses.

By 2011, her persistence paid off with the role of Rachel Zane in Suits, where she appeared in more than 100 episodes over seven seasons.

She also launched her lifestyle blog The Tig and secured brand partnerships. Friends say she believed she was on the cusp of the wider recognition she had always sought.

But when her engagement to Harry was announced in 2017, Meghan said she would give up acting.

In their joint BBC interview, she explained: "What's been exciting, as we talk about this as the transition out of my career, is that the causes that have been very important to me, I can focus even more energy on."

The late Queen Elizabeth is believed to have told Meghan she could continue acting if she wished.

Yet critics argue she could not reconcile her taste for the spotlight with the royal family's culture of restraint.

As biographer Gyles Brandreth recalled Prince Philip warning new royals: "The attention is for your role, what you do, what you're supporting. It isn't for you as an individual. You are not a celebrity."

A former colleague who worked with Meghan before Suits said: "Meghan had incredible ambition to become a world-famous star. But she knew deep down it was never going to happen – Suits was never the passport to movies, and her acting was considered wooden.

"She saw Harry as her fairytale ending and a ticket to riches. But now, ironically, she is back to grafting to become a star."