Meg Ryan is certainly a household name. With classics such as When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle, the actress garnered wide critical acclaim for her performances, and a significant fan base. From the 1980s until the early 2010s, the decades in which the popularity of romantic comedies was at its peak, Meg Ryan was one of the many actresses who at one time reigned as the queen of the genre. While her name is largely still synonymous with romantic comedies, her body of work encompasses a wide range of projects that exhibit her true acting chops. Regardless, her career has somewhat faded into a relative lull, at least by the measure of online buzz and discussion. Does this reflect a genuine decline in the quantity and quality of her work, or is it a result of unlucky career moves that failed to captivate the press? So where is the one time America’s Sweetheart these days?
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Early Roles and Rise to Fame
Columbia Pictures
Born as Maragret Hyra, Meg Ryan began acting in 1981 with her debut film performance in The Rich and Famous, and subsequently worked her way into becoming a household name. Hailing from Fairfield, Connecticut, Meg Ryan was born of two modest teachers, with her mother having a passion for acting herself. As she worked toward her major in journalism at New York University, Ryan launched her acting career with small roles in soap operas and commercials. Her early work included the first Top Gun movie, her appearance in which became newly relevant upon the release of 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick. On the set of her early projects she met husband Dennis Quaid, with whom she would remain for a decade.
Meg Ryan’s career took a turn in favor of greater recognition as she starred as the titular leading lady of When Harry Met Sally alongside Billy Crystal as Harry. The film produced one of the most iconic scenes in a romantic comedy as Harry and Sally debate over women faking orgasms. At the diner in which the conversation is taking place, Sally makes a show of loudly moaning at the table to prove her point to Harry, resulting in the unforgettable line quipped by an extra, “I’ll have what she’s having”. From then on she established a moderate reign over the romantic comedy genre, appearing in the classic Sleepless in Seattle opposite Tom Hanks, and the underrated Kate & Leopold. The former film revolves around the unlikely connection between Hanks and Ryan’s characters, a widower and an engaged journalist living on opposite coasts.
Sleepless in Seattle produced a scene nearly as iconic as the diner scene in When Harry Met Sally (both written by Nora Ephron), with the couple sharing a romantic moment atop the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. Kate & Leopold was only a moderate success, telling the story of a 19th century duke (Hugh Jackman) that finds himself in modern day New York, where he meets and falls in love with Kate (Ryan). Ryan worked with Hanks on several projects, including Joe Versus the Volcano and You’ve Got Mail. Despite roles breaking her out of the at times confining romantic genre, such as the acclaimed film When a Man Loves a Woman. Granted, this film was not far off track as it was, in fact, a romantic drama.
The Peaks and Valleys of Meg Ryan’s Career
Screen Gems
Ryan had established herself as something of an “America’s Sweetheart”, the expectations of which may have ultimately limited her career. In the Cut proved to be a failure for Meg Ryan and the rest of the cast, with the film receiving poor critical reviews and meagerly low box office numbers. The film centered around Ryan’s character, Fannie, and English teacher that become embroiled in an escalating murder investigation and a sexual relationship with the lead detective. When her own sister becomes a victim, Fannie is increasingly passionate about capturing the killer, whom she ultimately kills at the end of the movie. Despite its subversive approach to sexual and psychological themes, the film received fairly unfavorable or apathetic reviews by both critics and audiences. The streak continued and worsened with the release of Against the Ropes, a fictionalized tale of Jackie Kallen, a trailblazing figure in athletics, as a successful female boxing manager. The film garnered only $6 million at the box office, a devastatingly low figure for any production.
The reception of these projects led to a three-year hiatus for Meg Ryan, with her re-emergence taking place in the 2007 indie drama In the Land of Women. While the film only grossed $17.5 million, it was a small success for the independent project that filmed under a budget of just $10 million. Regardless, this was not the career revival that Meg Ryan perhaps had hoped for, despite critics praising Ryan’s performance. Her next projects, the Sundance Film festival Feature The Deal and the DVD release of My Mom’s New Boyfriend, further added to the now-long sequence of tepid work. From here on, Ryan’s career continued to decline.
Where Is She Now
Warner Bros.
As an icon of the romantic comedy, Meg Ryan has been able to enjoy a good deal of relevancy even among younger audiences despite career dry spells and poorly performing projects. Perhaps a resurgence is in the works for Ryan, who is slated to direct and star in the upcoming romantic comedy What Happens Later. Based on the play by Steven Dietz, it follows two former lovers who are coincidentally reunited on account of a weather delay for their travel plans at the same airport. The film is expected to be released in 2023.
During the 1990s, Ryan was married to fellow actor and sometime co-star Dennis Quaid, with whom she shared son Jack Quaid. The pair divorced in 2001, with Jack growing up to follow in his parents’ footsteps as an actor. Jack Quaid has recently made conversation as one of the subjects of The New Yorker’s controversial issue dedicated to so-called “nepo babies”, the children of prominent Hollywood figures who then break into Hollywood themselves.
