This Is Why You Never Hear From Meg Ryan Anymore
Find out what she's said about the status of her acting career.
Just because you haven't seen Meg Ryan lately doesn't mean she hasn't been working. Throughout the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s, Ryan could be seen on screen frequently and became especially beloved for her roles in romantic comedies, including When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail. But, around the start of the 2010s, Ryan began appearing in movies less often. Her last major role was in the 2008 film The Women, though she also had a part in the 2015 movie Ithaca, which she also directed.
But, while it might seem like Ryan has retired from acting, that's not actually the case. The star has, however, expressed a loss of interest in performing and instead has become more passionate about working behind the scenes. Read on to find out what Ryan has said about taking on anymore roles and to learn more about her life today.
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Acting isn't her passion anymore.
In a 2019 interview with The New York Times Magazine, Ryan said of acting less, "I wasn't as curious about acting as I was about other things that life can give you. I wanted to live more." She also revealed that she never dreamed about being an actor when she was growing up. "I don't feel like, naturally, I'm a performer," she explained. "I knew I was being given opportunities and that there was certain music I could play as an actor. Certain things I could do. And I liked acting. I thought it was fun. But acting was a situation I was navigating."
Ryan was also asked whether two of her films, In the Cut (2003) and Against the Ropes (2004), being received poorly had an effect on her stepping back from acting. "I think the feeling with Hollywood was mutual," she responded. "I felt done when they felt done, probably."
She's still offered projects.
In the New York Times Magazine interview, Ryan said that she's still asked to take on roles. "I get offers to do things now, but they're not things I want to do," she said. "I have so much admiration for actors who have incredible imagination for life or have life experience that they can then bring to the audience. I don't think I was one of those people. I felt like an unformed person."
Ryan did take on one project that got a lot of attention, but it didn't end up coming to fruition. She was the narrator for the pilot of a How I Met Your Mother spinoff titled How I Met Your Dad, which was going to star Greta Gerwig. The show didn't end up getting picked up. (A new version, How I Met Your Father, without either actors' involvement, just premiered earlier this year.) In 2017, it was also reported that she was going to star in a comedy series called Picture Paris, which also didn't come to pass.
She's more interested in directing and producing.
Ithaca was the first film Ryan directed, and she'd like to do more work behind the camera. "Now I'm focused on producing," she told InStyle in 2019. "I'm also teeing myself up to direct, and I'm working on a fun e-commerce project with some of my friends." Ryan also told The New York Times Magazine that she was writing a romantic comedy that she also hoped to direct.
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She's also been focused on family.
During recent years, Ryan has made a few headlines for her love life. She had been in a longtime on-and-off relationship with musician John Mellencamp. In 2018, they got engaged, but in 2019, they called it off, as reported by People.
Ryan has two children: 29-year-old Jack Quaid, who is also an actor, with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and 18-year-old Daisy Ryan, who she adopted in 2006. "Most of all, what I'm ambitious for in the 12 hours a day that I'm awake is my kids' happiness. I just am," she told InStyle. "I'm either figuring out how to provide for them, figuring out how to say it right, figuring out all those mom things. I want them to be happy."
You can keep up with her on social media.
While you may not see her on the big scree anymore, fans of Ryan can keep up with her on Instagram. The 60-year-old shares moments from her day-to-day life, support for her son's acting career (he stars on The Boys and in the new Scream), and fun throwback pictures.
"Like anything if it's overindulged, then it's a problem," Ryan told InStyle of social media. "But I appreciate hearing from—well, not everyone [laughs]—but hearing directly from people, because it allows for more of a complexity in the understanding of a person. It's never black and white. No story is ever as simple as a headline."
