Meg Ryan

She made her acting debut in 1981 in the drama film Rich and Famous. She joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982. In the 1980s, Ryan appeared in Top Gun (1986), Promised Land (1987), and the Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally.. (1989), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. A prolific actress through the 1990s and 2000s, Ryan starred in Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), The Doors (1991), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), French Kiss (1995), Courage Under Fire (1996), Anastasia (1997), Addicted to Love (1997), You've Got Mail (1998), City of Angels (1998), Proof of Life (2000), Kate & Leopold (2001), and The Women (2008). In 2015, she made her directorial debut with Ithaca, in which she also starred. Following an eight-year hiatus after her career opportunities shrank, Ryan returned to the screen in the romantic comedy What Happens Later (2023), which she also directed.

Meg Ryan studied at New York University, University of Connecticut and Bethel High School. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are United States. Residence is recorded at Bel Air. Distinctions recorded are Crystal Award and Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year.

• Name — Meg Ryan • Birth Name — Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra • Born — 19 November 1961 • Birthplace — Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S. • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1981–present • Works — Full list • Children — 2, including Jack • Relatives — Andrew Hyra (brother)

Ryan was born and raised in Fairfield, Connecticut, to Susan Jordan Duggan, a former actress and English teacher, and Harry Hyra, a math teacher. Her father is of Polish descent, and she also has some Irish ancestry. She was raised Catholic and attended St. Pius X Elementary School in Fairfield. She had two sisters, Dana and Annie, and has one brother, musician Andrew Hyra, a member of the duo Billy Pilgrim. Her parents divorced in 1976 when she was 15. Ryan graduated from Bethel High School in 1979. She studied journalism as an undergraduate, first at the University of Connecticut and then at New York University. During college, she acted in television commercials and the soap opera As the World Turns to earn extra money. Her success as an actress led her to leave college a semester before she planned to graduate. When she joined the Screen Actors Guild, she used the surname "Ryan", her maternal grandmother's maiden name.

• Illustration — Ryan in As the World Turns (1983) After her film debut in director George Cukor's final film, Rich and Famous, in 1981, Ryan played Betsy Stewart in the daytime drama As the World Turns from 1982 to 1984; her character was featured in a popular romantic story arc. She also appeared in some television commercials during the early 1980s for Burger King and Aim toothpaste, among others. Several television and smaller film roles followed, including appearances in Charles in Charge, Armed and Dangerous, and Amityville 3-D. Her role in Promised Land (1987) earned Ryan her first Independent Spirit Award nomination. In 1986, she played Carole Bradshaw, the wife of Anthony Edwards' character, naval flight officer Nick "Goose" Bradshaw, in Top Gun. Scenes with them were reprised in the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick as flashbacks to illustrate the emotional conflicts between lead character Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) and the Bradshaws' grown son, Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller). Ryan appeared in the film Innerspace in 1987 with her future husband Dennis Quaid, and they subsequently costarred in the remake of D.O.A. (1988) and Flesh and Bone (1993). She also costarred in 1988 with Sean Connery and Mark Harmon in The Presidio.

Ryan's first leading role was the romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally... (1989), which paired her with comic actor Billy Crystal and earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. Her portrayal of Sally Albright includes an oft-recounted scene in which her character, lunching with Crystal's character in Katz's Delicatessen in Manhattan, theatrically demonstrates for him how easy it is for a woman to fake an orgasm. Ryan next appeared in Oliver Stone's moderately successful film The Doors, and in Prelude to a Kiss, which flopped. In 1993, the hugely successful romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle paired Ryan for a second time with Tom Hanks. They had previously been the romantic leads, with Ryan playing three different women, in John Patrick Shanley's Joe Versus the Volcano in 1990 — a commercial disappointment which later developed a cult following. (Hanks and Ryan were once again paired in another box-office success, You've Got Mail, in 1998.) She earned her second nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance in Sleepless in Seattle. She was offered the role of FBI agent Clarice Starling, the protagonist of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), but rejected it due to the film's gruesome and violent themes. In 1994, Ryan played an alcoholic high-school guidance counselor – far from the romantic-comedy ingenue roles for which she had become famous – in Luis Mandoki's social romantic drama When a Man Loves a Woman, also starring Andy Garcia. The film and her performance were both well received by critics. A critic for Variety called the film "a first-class production, accentuated by fine performances and an unflinching script," and another praised Ryan for her "roller-coaster role". The film was a notable success, grossing $50 million in the United States alone, and garnered Ryan a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The same year, Ryan returned to type, starring alongside Tim Robbins in Fred Schepisi's romantic comedy I.Q. The film centers on a mechanic and a Princeton doctoral candidate who fall in love, with the aid of the graduate student's uncle, Albert Einstein (played by Walter Matthau). Ryan later won Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year award, and People Magazine dubbed her one of "the 50 most beautiful people in the world". In 1995, critic Richard Corliss called Ryan "the current soul of romantic comedy". The same year she also starred opposite Kevin Kline in Lawrence Kasdan's French Kiss, a comedy catering to her "America's Sweetheart" image, and was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award – given to "outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry." In 1996, Ryan starred as a helicopter pilot in the war drama Courage Under Fire, a critical and commercial success. The following year, she voiced the lead role in the animated film Anastasia, which met with good reviews and box office success, and she and Matthew Broderick played a pair of jilted lovers bent on revenge in the black comedy Addicted to Love, giving Ryan a female lead at least superficially different from her usual roles. In 1998, she starred in two films. City of Angels (an American remake of Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire) drew positive reviews and earned nearly $200 million worldwide. You've Got Mail, reteaming Ryan with Hanks, earned her a third nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and made more than $250 million worldwide. She also appeared in 1998's Hurlyburly with Sean Penn.

Ryan's first film of the 2000s was Hanging Up, a Diane Keaton-directed family comedy-drama about a trio of sisters who bond over the approaching death of their curmudgeonly father. Also starring Keaton, Lisa Kudrow and Walter Matthau, the film adaptation of Delia Ephron's 1995 novel received poor reviews from critics. The same year, Ryan was cast in the action thriller Proof of Life with Russell Crowe, directed by Taylor Hackford. In the film, she portrayed the distraught wife of a kidnapped engineer, played by David Morse, while relying on a resourceful troubleshooter who makes a profession of dealing with international bandits. While the film became a lukewarm critical and commercial success, grossing $63 million worldwide, it garnered much reportage in the tabloid press in association with Ryan and Crowe's affair. Stephen Holden, film critic for The New York Times, did not think the film worked well and opined that the actors did not connect. • Illustration — Ryan in September 2006 A year later, she once again returned to her romantic comedy roots with Kate & Leopold (2001), alongside Hugh Jackman. A film about a British Duke who travels through time from New York in 1876 to the present and falls in love with a successful market researcher in the modern New York, the James Mangold-directed film received a mixed-to-positive response, with Lael Loewenstein of Variety summing it as "a mostly charming and diverting tale". At a total gross of $70 million, it would be Ryan's highest-grossing film of the decade. In 2003, Ryan broke away from her usual roles, starring alongside Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Jane Campion's erotic thriller film In the Cut. Co-producer Nicole Kidman had originally been cast in the lead, but the actress eventually dropped out after five years of development, leaving the role to Ryan, who appeared nude in a lengthy and rather graphic love scene for the first time in her career. Although her image-conflicting depiction earned Ryan and the film much media attention, the film failed with critics and grossed only $23 million in theaters. While promoting In the Cut on Michael Parkinson's talk show Parkinson, the actress was offended by the host's questions and comments, including comments about filming nude scenes in the movie; she appeared disinterested, delivering one-word responses, and when asked by Parkinson what she would do if she was in charge of the interview, retorted that she would "wrap it up." The interaction is considered in Britain to be one of the most infamous in talk show history. Three years after the interview aired, Ryan explained that she felt Parkinson was berating her for performing nude scenes and had attempted to disagree with his views respectfully. Parkinson eventually apologized for losing his temper in 2021, but maintained that Ryan's behavior "played a part in it too". She continued the strategy of acting against type with a leading role in Charles S. Dutton's directorial debut Against the Ropes (2004), a fictionalized sport drama about American boxing manager Jackie Kallen, the first woman to become a success in the sport. The film grossed less than $6 million in the U.S. and was panned by critics, in part because of its resemblance to other boxing films, such as the Rocky series.

Ryan was attached to several productions in the early 2010s—including the ensemble drama Lives of The Saints opposite Kat Dennings, Kevin Zegers, and John Lithgow, and Long Time Gone, a film adaptation of the April Stevens novel Angel Angel, —all of which failed to materialize. In April 2011, it was announced that Ryan would make her feature film directing debut in Into the Beautiful, described as "a contemporary Big Chill with longtime friends reconnecting", but it was never made. In October 2012, Ryan was featured in the PBS documentary Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. The series introduces women and girls living under difficult circumstances and fighting to challenge them. The same month, Ryan's audiobook recording of William Saroyan's The Human Comedy was released. In October 2013, it was reported that Ryan would be returning to television to produce and star in a new comedy for NBC revolving around a former hotshot New York editor, for which it again failed to get production approval. Following another four-year hiatus, Ryan re-teamed with Lisa Kudrow on her improvisational comedy series Web Therapy, for which she filmed five episodes in 2013. The following year, she provided the future voice of Greta Gerwig's character in the pilot of How I Met Your Dad, a woman-centric variation of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother that was not picked up. CBS later passed on the project. • Illustration — Ryan in Sarajevo during the 2024 Sarajevo Film Festival Ryan's next feature film was the ABC Family film Fan Girl, an independent comedy about a 15-year-old girl, played by Kiernan Shipka, with a passion for filmmaking who sets out to make a movie about her favorite band, All Time Low. It premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2015. Also in 2015, Ryan made her directing debut with Ithaca, a drama film based on the 1943 novel The Human Comedy by William Saroyan. Filmed in Petersburg, Virginia, it starred Ryan and had its world premiere at the Middleburg Film Festival in October. Ryan returned to the screen alongside David Duchovny in the 2023 romantic comedy, What Happens Later, also directed by Ryan. In May 2025, it was announced that she had been cast in Lena Dunham's upcoming romantic comedy, Good Sex. In 2024, Ryan attended the Sarajevo Film Festival to receive the highest award the Heart of Sarajevo. She also held a masterclass moderated by Academy Award winning Bosnian director Danis Tanović

Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on February 14, 1991. They have one child together, Jack Quaid, born April 24, 1992. She and Quaid announced their separation in June 2000, and their divorce became final in July 2001. There were allegations of infidelity on both sides, and Quaid added that Ryan's fame eclipsing his was a factor in the divorce. Ryan became romantically involved with actor Russell Crowe while working on their 2000 film Proof of Life, but also said the relationship with Crowe was not a factor in her divorce from Quaid. In January 2006, Ryan adopted a 14-month-old girl from China whom she named Daisy True. From 2010 to 2014, Ryan was in a relationship with American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. They reunited in 2017, and Ryan announced their engagement on November 8, 2018. In October 2019, it was reported that Ryan had ended their engagement.

Ryan has publicly supported the Democratic Party, particularly its environmental protection initiatives. In 2003, she supported Wesley Clark's campaign for U.S. president. She later endorsed John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election.

Ryan has received multiple awards and nominations throughout her career, including three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance in the romantic comedies When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You've Got Mail (1998).

Meg Ryan is recorded as having received Crystal Award and Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. Recorded at birth as Margaret Mary Emily Hyra. Identity and origins. She also worked under the name Meg Ryan. Her recorded language was English. She married Dennis Quaid. One child is recorded: Jack Quaid.

• 1989: Honored as the Female Discovery of the Year with Pauline Collins by the Golden Apple Awards. • 1994: Recognized as the Woman of the Year during the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. • 1995: Honored with the Crystal Award during the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. • 1999: Honored with Anjelica Huston, Susan Sarandon, and Amy Pascal during the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards with the Icon Award presented to her by Elle magazine. • 1999: Recognized as the Actress of the Year by the ShoWest Convention. • 2006: Nominated – EDA Special Mention Award for Actress Most In Need of a New Agent by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. • 2008: Received the Francois Truffaut Award during the Giffoni Film Festival. • 2015: Honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Savannah Film Festival. • 2018: Received the Leopard Club Award during the Locarno International Film Festival. • 2024: Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award during the Sarajevo Film Festival.

• Association — Year — Category — Title — Result • American Comedy Awards — 1990 — Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture — When Harry Met Sally — rowspan=2 • 1994 — Sleepless in Seattle • 1996 — French Kiss — rowspan=4 • 1999 — You've Got Mail • Annie Awards — 1998 — Best Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production — Anastasia • Awards Circuit Community Awards — 1993 — Best Actress in a Leading Role — Sleepless in Seattle • Bambi Awards — 2008 — Best Actress — International — The Women • Blockbuster Entertainment Awards — 1999 — Favorite Actress — Drama/Romance — City of Angels • Favorite Actress — Comedy/Romance — You've Got Mail • 2001 — Favorite Actress — Suspense — Proof of Life — rowspan=24 • Chicago Film Critics Association Awards — 1990 — Best Actress — When Harry Met Sally • David di Donatello Awards — Best Foreign Actress • Edinburgh International Film Festival — 2016 — Audience Award — Ithaca • Film by the Sea International Film Festival — 2016 — Film and Literature Award • Golden Globe Awards — 1990 — Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical — When Harry Met Sally • 1994 — Sleepless in Seattle • 1999 — You've Got Mail • Golden Raspberry Awards — 2009 — Worst Actress (shared with cast) — The Women • Independent Spirit Awards — 1989 — Best Female Lead — Promised Land • Kid's Choice Awards — 1999 — Favorite Movie Actress — You've Got Mail • MTV Movie + TV Awards — 1994 — Best Female Performance — Sleepless in Seattle • Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Tom Hanks) • 1995 — Best Female Performance — When a Man Loves a Woman • 1999 — Best On-Screen Duo (shared with Nicolas Cage) — City of Angels • Online Film & Television Association Awards — 1998 — Best Voice-Over Performance — Anastasia • People's Choice Awards — 1993 — Favorite Motion Picture Actress — Sleepless in Seattle • 1996 — French Kiss • Satellite Awards — 1999 — Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical — You've Got Mail • Saturn Awards — Best Actress — City of Angels • Screen Actors Guild Awards — 1995 — Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role — When a Man Loves a Woman • The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards — 2000 — Worst On-Screen Group (shared with Diane Keaton & Lisa Kudrow) — Hanging Up • 2004 — Worst Actress — Against the Ropes • Worst Fake Accent — Female