Meg Ryan became one of America’s sweethearts by playing endearing romantic protagonists in the 80s and 90s.
The lovely actress with her blond shag hairdo will always be remembered for Sleepless In Seattle and You’ve Got Mail.
No one predicted Ryan’s star would diminish, but she disappeared from film after 2018.
While the 90s girl next door is no longer in the spotlight, 61-year-old Ryan recently made waves on the red carpet.
I wasn’t the only 80s and 90s Meg Ryan fan. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed belle was rom-com royalty and “America’s sweetheart.”
Her star burned brightly for two decades as a Hollywood favorite.
It was unlikely that Meg Ryan would be famous worldwide.
Born 1961, Ryan grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut. Polish-born math teacher Harry Hyra was her father. Ryan’s mother, Susan Jordan, was a teacher and actor, so stage presence ran in the family.
Changing her name
After her parents divorced in 1976 when Meg was 15, her connection with them grew acrimonious.
Meg lost relations with her mother after several events. When she joined the Screen Actors Guild, she changed her surname to “Ryan,” her grandmother’s maiden name.
Ryan studied journalism at Connecticut and New York Universities as a young woman. Her college years may not have changed her life as many expected.
Meg Ryan started doing commercials and soap operas for extra cash. Many producers heard about the remarkable young actress after she was cast in As the World Turns.
Ryan quit college to work in entertainment. She made a splash in Top Gun with a vibrant image of Carole Bradshaw, Nick “Goose” Bradshaw’s wife.
Meg Ryan got greater parts after the 1986 romantic action flick was the highest-grossing.
She fell in love on Top Gun. Co-star and on-screen husband Anthony Edwards became her boyfriend. The couple dated and lived together.
Ryan and his future spouse Dennis Quaid participated in Innerspace in 1987.
“She had a small role in “Top Gun”. She headlined the recent John Candy film “Armed and Dangerous”. Joe Dante, the director, told Cinema Retro that this was a big step for her and that she met Dennis and married him.
Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan married on February 14, 1991, after falling in love immediately.
“It was like a thunderbolt,” Dennis remarked. “We both thought, ‘This is it. We’ll be together.
The pair married on Valentine’s Day in their hotel room. The wedding excluded Ryan’s mother.
“I was laughing and crying at the same time,” she told the New York Post, “and I realized I could’ve never gotten married in front of a whole group of people.”
Rom-com queen
Her stardom skyrocketed when she played the romantic comedy protagonist. When Harry met Sally… Sally Albright was performed by Ryan and Billy Cristal. Despite critics’ disapproval, the film is now a cult rom-com classic.
This film established Meg Ryan’s unthreatening status as rom-com queen.
In 1993, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks star in Sleepless in Seattle, another romantic comedy. The charming “girl-next-door” charmed moviegoers again and was lauded.
“I think her ‘cuteness’ sometimes blinds people to how genuinely gifted she is as a comic actress,” Nora Ephron’s legendary director said Vanity Fair in 1995.
Tom Hanks also said Meg Ryan may be different from her Nora Ephron roles. Critics called Meg “the current soul of the romantic comedy,” but she had other sides.
“Meg is not perky, I always got the distinct impression that this woman is not to be messed around with,” the famous actor observed in 1995.
She was hardly a lock to play Annie Reed in Sleepless in Seattle. She was the sixth choice after Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger, and Michelle Pfeiffer declined the job.
Darker roles
Meg Ryan declined The Silence of the Lambs after Sleepless in Seattle’s success. Instead, she focused on her success—romantic comedies.
The actress requested a new part in 1996. Meg Ryan played a darker role with Denzel Washington and Matt Damon in Courage Under Fire.
The 1996 picture was a box office hit, so Ryan seemed unstoppable. 1998 was one of her best years professionally. In the romantic comedy City of Angels with Nicolas Cage, another movie office hit was certain. Meg Ryan was lauded again, and the film grossed nearly $200 million.
That year, she starred with Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail, another career-defining performance. The film follows two adversaries who fell in love after emailing each other without knowing each other’s identities.
The movie earned Meg her third Golden Globe nomination, according to the New York Times:
Ms. Ryan plays her character lightly and credibly this time, with freshness, a minimum of charming fidgeting, and fond connection with Mr. Hanks.”
How wonderful to end the actress’s golden decade!
If the 1990s were successful for the actress, the 2000s were considerably harder. She had a few flops in the new decade, and the all-American nice girl had personal trouble.
When she acted opposite Russel Crowe in Proof of Life, romance rumors emerged. In 2000, Ryan and her husband broke up.
Ryan was shamed by the tabloids for dating Russel Crowe while married at this emotional time. Her actions didn’t reflect the public’s perception of their favorite girl-next-door, therefore the affair made news.
Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan
Few realized that Ryan’s marriage to Dennis Quaid was in ruins when she started seeing Russel Crowe.
Their marriage was not a Hollywood romance of love and perfection.
“Great story. My nine-year marriage was not mentioned. Dennis’s infidelity hurt me for a long time. When I was divorced, I learned more about that,” Meg Ryan told InStyle in 2008.
According to Meg Ryan, dating her Proof of Life co-star did not affect her divorce from Dennis Quaid.
I think he suffered a significant knock, but Russell didn’t divorce. Ryan said: “He was there at the end, but it wasn’t his fault.”
“Public and press tuned in afterward. She said our breakup was unrelated to another person.
Years after their high-profile divorce, Ryan’s words upset her ex-husband.
“It was eight years ago, and I find it unbelievable that Meg continues publicly to rehash and rewrite the story of our relationship,” he told the NYDaily News.
Meg Ryan termed their marriage “very unhealthy marriage,” while Dennis Quaid remembers it fondly.
“Sure, I still love her,” Quaid told Independent. I like her, and we have fun. We enjoyed 13 years together. We shared a child, and she made my life.”
Son of Meg Ryan
Despite their split, Ryan and Quaid will always be connected by their son.
Jack Quaid, their 1992-born son, has followed in his parents’ footsteps. Jack made his film debut in The Hunger Games and has since acted in several TV shows and movies.
Meg Ryan had a three-year break from performing after her public divorce, her most tumultuous time. She focused on her family and appeared to have a good relationship with her son.
In 2015, Meg directed Jack in Ithaca.
“I’m lucky I could grow up saying, ‘Hey, I want to be an actor,’ and they understood. I didn’t grow up in a house that didn’t grasp what that meant or told me, ‘Oh that probably isn’t the wisest choice, you should have a backup plan,’” Jack told Insider in 2022.
