Meghan Markle Pens Powerful Essay About Being Biracial in Hollywood

Meghan Markle is opening up about what its like to be a biracial actress in Hollywood.

The 35-year-old Suits actress, who has a black mother and white father, admitted to Elle UK that she was initially scared to tell her story.

Meghan explained she grew up in a non-diverse neighborhood, where her mother was often confused for her nanny because she had a darker skin complexion. She watched her mother face discrimination and often felt confusion about her mixed race.

Meghan later added, “Being ‘ethnically ambiguous’, as I was pegged in the industry, meant I could audition for virtually any role. Morphing from Latina when I was dressed in red, to African American when in mustard yellow; my closet filled with fashionable frocks to make me look as racially varied as an Eighties Benetton poster. Sadly, it didn’t matter: I wasn’t black enough for the black roles and I wasn’t white enough for the white ones, leaving me somewhere in the middle as the ethnic chameleon who couldn’t book a job.”

Finally Meghan found the perfect role on Suits, where producers weren’t casting for any specific look.

“Some households may never have had a black person in their house as a guest, or someone biracial. Well, now there are a lot of us on your TV and in your home with you. And with Suits, specifically, you have Rachel Zane. I couldn’t be prouder of that,” she added.

Meghan concluded, “While my mixed heritage may have created a grey area surrounding my self-identification, keeping me with a foot on both sides of the fence, I have come to embrace that. To say who I am, to share where I’m from, to voice my pride in being a strong, confident mixed-race woman.”

Read all that Meghan had to say on ElleUK.com.