Hallmark Star Kristoffer Polaha Has A History With Meghan Markle

Back when Kristoffer Polaha knew Meghan Markle, there wasn't yet any indication that her life would become a real-life Hallmark movie (if you ended her story at the royal wedding and ignored the messy aftermath of Sussexit, that is). 

Polaha is a seasoned Hallmark Channel star, serving up happy endings and idealized holiday cheer in movies including "We Wish You a Married Christmas," "Rocky Mountain Christmas," and "A Dickens of a Holiday!." He also starred alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar in "Ringer," as a main cast member on the teen drama "Life Unexpected," and landed the titular role in the TBS movie "America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story." But, while playing American royalty made him a small-screen king, it was his brush with the American actor who married into the British royal family that Polaha can't stop talking about.

Before Meghan met Prince Harry and got her "Royally Ever After" — the title of a Hallmark movie that premiered the same day she and Harry got hitched — she was in the same profession as Polaha. While her most well-known role might be playing Rachel Zane in the USA Network legal drama "Suits," Meghan also appeared in the Hallmark films "When Sparks Fly" and "Dater's Handbook." In typical Hallmark fashion, she got two love interests in the latter and Polaha played one of them. During their time together, he became friendly enough with the future Duchess of Sussex and he once gave her some advice about her love life.

Kristoffer Polaha and Meghan Markle's 2016 movie "Dater's Handbook" is about a woman who decides to rely on the recommendations of a self-help book to help her find Mr. Right. But, when the camera wasn't rolling, it was Polaha who was providing Meghan with relationship guidance — and he even played a role in helping her fulfill her duchess destiny.

Polaha told SheKnows that he and Meghan had a conversation about her dating difficulties after her divorce from Trevor Engelson. "She was dating a guy in Toronto and she wasn't really into the dude and I was like, 'You just got out of a marriage, why are you jumping into another relationship? Go be single, be free,'" Polaha recalled. The guy he was telling Meghan to dump was presumably her last known boyfriend before she met Harry, chef Corey Vitiello.

According to Polaha, Meghan later informed him that she had taken his counsel to heart and was embracing the single life, but she didn't remain unattached for long. Just two months later, she texted him about Harry. "She's like, 'Well, I met someone,'" Polaha recalled. "I said, 'Do you like him?' And she said, 'I kinda do.'" The co-stars' paths diverged after he received that text; Meghan married Harry in 2018, and Polaha continued acting, appearing in festive Hallmark fare such as "Haul out the Holly," but also landing roles in Hollywood blockbusters including "Wonder Woman 1984" and "Jurassic World: Dominion."

To get to know each other better and improve their on-screen chemistry in "Dater's Handbook," Kristoffer Polaha and Meghan Markle went on what Polaha described as "fake dates." He got to know Meghan fairly well this way, and in 2018, he told Media From the Heart that he learned that she was actively working toward quitting her acting career. 

"She was already a part of the UN doing stuff for children, education, and women's rights in Africa. She was already moving in the direction of being a global ambassador," he recalled. In Polaha's view marrying into the royal family provided Meghan with the perfect opportunity to further these altruistic goals. Of course, her attempts to bring her visions to life within the confines of the royal family didn't exactly work out. Still, in a 2021 interview with Extra, Polaha predicted that Meghan wouldn't let the Sussexit backlash stop her from succeeding. "It's fascinating to watch how hard the press is coming down on her," he said. "I think she's smart enough to turn this thing around and make it work in their favor."

Like Meghan, Polaha has career pursuits other than acting. He's actually an author who writes romance novels when he's not busy playing a romantic lead — like when he played an author in the Hallmark movie "Pearl in Paradise." So, where's the book about an actor who unwittingly plays a role in a royal romance?