Her screen presence has become rarer, leading to speculation about the trajectory of her career…
Meg Ryan starred in some of the most glamorous romantic leads of the 80s and 90s, cementing her reputation as one of America’s sweethearts.
The charming actress with the blonde bushy hairstyle will be remembered for roles in classic films such as You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.
There was no indication at the moment that Ryan’s star would fade, but in 2018, he disappeared from the big screen entirely.
Today, the ’90s ‘girl next door’ shuns the limelight, but Ryan, now 61, recently made an appearance on the red carpet and raised eyebrows.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought Meg Ryan was beautiful in the 80s and 90s. The blonde, blue-eyed beauty was dubbed “America’s Sweetheart” for a reason: she was the queen of rom-com.
Her fame shone brightly for two decades as one of Hollywood’s most popular actors.
However, it was far from guaranteed that Meg Ryan would become an international star.
Ryan grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he was born in 1961. Harry Hyra, a math instructor, was from Poland. Ryan’s mother, Susan Jordan, was an actress as well as a teacher, so being on stage was easy for him.
Meg’s relationship with her parents was strained later in life as a result of her parent’s divorce in 1976 when she was just 15 years old.
Meg would actually break up with her mother for various reasons. When she joined the Screen Actors Guild, she also decided to change her last name to “Ryan”, her grandmother’s maiden name.
As a young lady, Ryan decided to study journalism at the University of Connecticut and then at New York University. Her college experience would have an impact on her life, though perhaps not in the way many people imagined.
Meg Ryan began acting in soap operas and television commercials to supplement her income. Suddenly she was cast in As the World Turns and many producers found out about the young talented actress.
Ryan dropped out of college to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She came to prominence after portraying Carole Bradshaw, the wife of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw, in the popular film Top Gun (Anthony Edwards).
Thanks to the romantic action film, which was also the highest-grossing film of 1986, Meg Ryan was able to get bigger roles.
She also found love on the set of Top Gun. She began dating her actor and on-screen husband Anthony Edwards. After dating for a while, the couple moved in together.
Ryan and his future wife Dennis Quaid starred in the 1987 sci-fi film Innerspace.
“She was already in ‘Top Gun’, albeit in a smaller role. She was also in the recently released ‘Armed and Dangerous’ opposite John Candy. But it was a fantastic step forward for her and of course, she met and later married Dennis, ” director Joe Dante told Cinema Retro.
Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid instantly fell in love and married on February 14, 1991.
“It was like lightning,” Dennis described. “We both felt, ‘This is it.’ We’re going to spend time together.”
On Valentine’s Day, the ceremony was held in the couple’s hotel room. Ryan’s mother was not invited to the wedding.
“I was laughing and crying at the same time,” she told the New York Post, adding, “and I realized that I could never get married in front of a whole group of people.”
When she was cast as the lead character in the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally, her rise to prominence was substantially accelerated. Besides Billy Cristal,
Sally Albright was played by Ryan. Although the film was not well received by reviewers, it has since become a cult classic rom-com.
The film would also serve as an unshakable foundation for Meg Ryan’s reign as the queen of rom-com movies.
In 1993, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks collaborated on another romantic comedy success, Sleepless in Seattle. The adorable “girl next door” captivated the audience once again and everyone praised her performance.
“I think her ‘cuteness’ sometimes blinds people to how talented she really is as a comic actress,” legendary director Nora Ephron told Vanity Fair in 1995.
Tom Hanks also released information about his co-star and said that Meg Ryan may be very different from her characters in Nora Ephron’s films. Although Meg was considered the “modern soul of the romantic comedy”, she had other sides.
“Meg is not energetic and I’ve always had the distinct impression that this woman is not to be trifled with,” noted the famous actor in 1995.
It was far from certain that she would play Annie Reed in Sleepless in Seattle. She was actually the sixth candidate, and Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger, and Michelle Pfeiffer were all approached but declined.
After the success of Sleepless in Seattle, Meg Ryan turned down a role in the critically acclaimed The Silence of the Lambs. Instead, she focused on romantic comedies, which catapulted her to prominence.
However, in 1996, the actress realized that she needed a new role that would push her forward. In the war film Courage Under Fire, Meg Ryan played a much darker character with Denzel Washington and Matt Damon.
When the film debuted in 1996 and became a box office success, Ryan seemed to have little chance of failure. Her success story continued in 1998, in one of her most successful careers. When she starred in the romantic comedy City of Angels with Nicolas Cage, everything was set for another blockbuster.
The following year, he reunited with Tom Hanks for You’ve Got Mail, which proved to be another career-defining performance. The plot revolves around two enemies who fall in love when they start texting each other without realizing who the other is. The film takes place at a time when e-mail and the Internet were just beginning in our daily lives.
Meg was nominated for her third Golden Globe for the film, and the New York Times wrote:
“This time around, Miss Ryan plays her role cheerfully and believably, with a touch of freshness, minimal cutesy wiggles, and lots of loving chemistry with Mr. Hanks.”
What a fitting way to end the actress’ golden decade!
However, if the nineties were a successful decade for the actress, the year 2000 turned out to be much more difficult. With several disappointments and a lot of stress in her personal life, the American nice girl had a terrible start to the new decade.
When she appeared in Proof of Life alongside Russell Crowe, romance rumors began to circulate. Ryan and her husband announced their divorce in 2000.
The press vilified and scandalized Ryan for having an affair with Russell Crowe while married during this difficult time in her personal life. Naturally, the affair made headlines because her actions contradicted the public’s perception of their favorite girl next door.
When Ryan started dating Russell Crowe, many people didn’t know that her marriage to Dennis Quaid was falling apart.
Despite the fact that it was far from ideal, their marriage was typically depicted as a Hollywood love story.
“It was a fantastic story. But what was not in the article was the reality of my nine-year marriage. Dennis had been unfaithful to me for a long time, which was excruciatingly annoying. “After the divorce, I learned more about it,” Meg Ryan explained in 2008.
Meg Ryan claims dating her Proof of Life co-star had nothing to do with her divorce from Dennis Quaid.
“I believe he took a significant blow, but Russell did not end the marriage. He was undoubtedly present at the end, but it wasn’t his fault,” Ryan noted, adding:
“The general public and the press tuned in much later.” “The reasons we broke up had nothing to do with anyone else,” she explained.
Ryan’s comments from her ex-husband, for obvious reasons, have been irritating years after their high-profile divorce.
“That was eight years ago and I find it incredible that Meg continues to publicly repeat and rewrite the story of our relationship,” he said.
While Meg Ryan described their relationship as “a very unhealthy marriage,” Dennis Quaid remembers it fondly.
“Sure, I still love her,” Quaid admitted. “I adore her and we’re great together.” We spent 13 beautiful years together. We had a child together and shared so much: she was the light of my life.”
Even if Ryan and Quaid broke up, they would always have a special bond with their son.
When Jack Quaid was born in 1992, he followed in his parent’s footsteps. The actor is now 29 years old. Jack made his film debut in The Hunger Games and subsequently appeared in several television shows and films.
Meg Ryan took a three-year hiatus from acting after her highly publicized divorce, which occurred during the most difficult time of her life. She wanted to put her family first and it looks like she and her son were close.
For example, they worked together in 2015 when Meg directed Jack in a short film.
“Luckily, I grew up and said, ‘Hey, I want to be an actor,’ and they got it.” “I didn’t grow up in a family that didn’t quite understand what that meant, or a family that said, ‘Oh, that’s probably not the wisest choice, you should have a backup plan.’ Jack explained.
Meg Ryan experienced several career setbacks in the mid-2000s and her star status began to decline. She became more and more involved in her personal life and wanted to expand her family.
As a single mother, she adopted a 14-month-old girl from China. Daisy was named after her and joined the family in 2006.
“I just wanted a baby; I was on a mission to connect with someone, and Daisy and I happened to meet that way.” We are very similar. And having Jack and now having Daisy in a different way — there’s no difference in the love you feel,” Ryan told Redbook magazine in 2007.
Meg Ryan’s last major role was in the 2008 comedy-drama Women. She then took a break from acting and stayed out of the limelight for a while.
As previously hinted, she tried her hand at directing in Ithaca, but it didn’t seem to be her cup of tea. The former American Girl and megastar has made only brief appearances in recent years.
“I wasn’t as interested in acting as I was in other things that life could offer me.” “I wanted to live more,” she added.
“I don’t feel like a natural artist. I realized that I was getting opportunities and that there was music that I could play as an actor. Some things were within my means. And I enjoyed playing. It was pleasant for me. But I was negotiating the script with the acting.”
Of course, many people doubted what happened to Meg Ryan in recent years, since she was not seen on the big screen as much.
In my opinion, Meg Ryan still looks the same as she did when she first made her mark in Hollywood; her face is so closely associated with the beautiful romantic comedies she created.
So maybe that’s why I was surprised to see her today. Of course, even actresses age. Meg Ryan lived to be 61 years old, as seen in her current photos. But she is still amazing and highly skilled.
He now tries to compose romantic comedies and contributes to the production of the NBC show.
“I’m also getting ready to direct and I’m working on a fun e-commerce project with some of my friends,” the former actress said in 2019.
As a result, Meg Ryan is less often seen on the red carpet but occasionally appears at the premiere.
He also maintains a presence on Instagram where he has over 600,000 followers.
“Like anything else, if it’s overdone, it’s a problem,” says Meg Ryan. “But I appreciate hearing from—well, not everyone [laughs]—but hearing directly from people because it allows for more complexity in understanding the person,” Ryan told Instyle. There is no such thing as black and white. No story is ever as straightforward as a headline.”
According to a source close to Meg Ryan, a return to the film industry is not out of the question and Ryan is “ready to conquer Hollywood again”.
As she sails gracefully into her sixth decade of life, Meg Ryan remains an enduring figure in popular culture. While she may have retreated from the spotlight that once shined so brightly upon her, her impact on the world of cinema and her contributions to romantic comedies remain indelible. As she navigates a path less defined by fame and more aligned with her personal passions and priorities, Ryan continues to exemplify resilience and authenticity in the face of the ever-evolving landscape of fame and Hollywood.