American actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner tragically died in an ‘accidental drowning’ in Costa Rica, and just two years before his death, he spoke about his former co-star Meghan Markle
Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Meghan Markle starred in Suits together(Image: Getty)
Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner revealed his genuine thoughts about his Suits co-star Meghan Markle before his unexpected passing at age 54.
The Hollywood performer, famous for his role as Theodore Huxtable on the beloved NBC family comedy The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992, died in an ‘accidental drowning’ in Costa Rica, according to TMZ. Two years prior to his passing, Warner shared his thoughts about Markle during an appearance on the Touré Show podcast, reports the Express US.
“Did you work with Meghan Markle?” the host inquired about Meghan, whose other co-stars have also dished on her, before asking, “What was that like?” Warner responded, “It was cool. We didn’t really have scenes together, so I’d see her and she was really nice, really cool.”
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“You know, my best friend Chris, he’s a stage manager, he used to stage manage Deal or No Deal and Meghan used to be on Deal or No Deal. He’s had more interaction with her than I did. But she was always cool,” the performer continued.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner had died at age 54(Image: Getty)
Markle initially appeared on the game show hosted by Howie Mandel as a briefcase model in 2006. Since that time, the Duchess of Sussex has expressed mixed feelings about the experience.
While grateful to have secured the position during her audition period for more substantial acting opportunities, the former Royal has subsequently revealed that the appearance-focused aspect of the modeling role helped her “understand what I would rather be doing.”
“Let me ask you something,” Touré addressed Warner after hearing his thoughts on Markle. “Did you know she was black? I mean like, I’m like, yo, I’ve got black-dar, so we see it, but I can see where a lot of people be like ‘I didn’t know.'”
Warner replied, “The great thing is that she knew,” he said. “She knows.”
Discussing her upbringing as a biracial woman in America, Markle revealed in her Netflix documentary series Harry and Meghan that it was “very different to be a minority but not be treated as a minority right off the bat.”
“I’d say now, people are very aware of my race because they made it such an issue when I went to the UK,” she explained. “But before that, most people didn’t treat me like a ‘Black woman.’ So that talk didn’t have to happen for me.”
When Markle encountered Prince Harry — during a 2016 blind date — she had been portraying paralegal Rachel Zane on Suits for 5 years, and by the time she departed the series when her romance with the prince intensified, she had appeared in 7 seasons.
Warner, who hails from New Jersey, wasn’t merely a young performer and Markle’s colleague. He also served as an executive producer on the PBS Kids educational series The Magic School Bus.
In 2015, he secured a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the track Jesus Children alongside Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway.
Following The Cosby Show, he maintained a consistent television presence, headlining Malcolm & Eddie and Reed Between the Lines, while making appearances across numerous shows including Dexter, Community, Major Crimes, Sons of Anarchy, Suits, and 9-1-1.
In 2016, he brought Al “A.C.” Cowlings to life in American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson.
The departed entertainer also took the director’s chair for multiple episodes of The Cosby Show, All That, Keenan & Kel, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Sesame Street, plus the short film This Old Man.
His most recent project saw him co-hosting the podcast Not All Hood with Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley, which aired its final episode just three days prior. Reports suggest the cherished performer was enjoying a family getaway when the tragic incident claimed his life.
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