Actress Meg Ryan, the star of the Hollywood classics Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail, gained fame during the 80’s and 90’s. She was considered America’s sweetheart and was described as a “girl next door.” Her charm and charisma, along with her awesome looks and talent, helped her rise to stardom.
However, some years ago, she decided to take some break from acting and focus all her time on her family.
Ryan was born in 1961 and grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut. Her parents divorced when she was still a teenager and that affected her life a great deal.
Ryan studied journalism at the University of Connecticut and later at the New York University. At the time, she started doing commercials in order to earn some money, but got attracted to acting and landed a role in As the World Turns.
She had her breakthrough with the film Top Gun where she played the role of Carole Bradshaw, the wife of Nick “Goose” Bradshaw played by Anthony Edwards. During the filming, Ryan fell for her onscreen husband and the two started dating for a while. Not long after, Ryan landed a role in Innerspace where she met her future husband Dennis Quaid.
“She had already been in “Top Gun” but in a small part. She also had the lead in a picture called “Armed and Dangerous” with John Candy that had come out recently. But this was a great step up for her and of course, she was introduced to Dennis and later they got married,” the director, Joe Dante, shared with Cinema Retro.
Ryan and Quaid tied the knot on Valentine’s Day 1991.
“It was like a thunderbolt,” Dennis said at the time. “Both of us felt, ‘This is it. We’re going to be together.’”
Their marriage lasted 10 years. At the time she and her husband announced they were splitting, rumors about her romance with her co-star Russell Crowe made headlines. Ryan and Crowe started dating while filming Proof of Life together. However, Ryan denied her romance with Crowe had anything to do with her marriage, which she claimed was already in shatters.
“It was a great story. But what wasn’t in the story was the reality of my marriage for nine years. Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time, and that was very painful. I found out more about that once I was divorced,” Meg Ryan told InStyle Magazine in 2008, eight years after her separation from Quaid.
“I think he took a big hit, but Russell didn’t break up the marriage. He was definitely there at the end, but it wasn’t his fault,” Ryan explained. “The public and the press tuned in way after. The reasons we broke up have nothing to do with another person,” she added.
Quaid wasn’t happy with his ex’s comments. “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 New York Daily News.
While she spoke of their marriage as of “unhealthy” one, he perceived their union quite differently. “Sure, I still love her,” Quaid told Independent. “I’m very fond of her, and we have a lot of fun. We spent 13 good years together. We had a kid together, and we shared so much: she made my life.”
Ryan and Quaid have one son together. Jack Quaid followed into his famous parents’ footsteps and played in Hunger Games among the rest.
In 2006, as her career slowed down significantly, Ryan adopted daughter Daisy, a girl from China who was just 14 months old at the time.
“I just really wanted a baby; I was on a mission to connect with somebody, and Daisy and I got to meet each other this way at this time. We are so compatible. And also having the experience of having had Jack and now to have Daisy in a different way — there’s no difference in the love you feel,” Ryan shared with Redbook magazine in 2007.
In recent years, Ryan who is 61, hasn’t appeared in public much. She also took some time off from the screen. However, according to her close friends, she is planning on conquering Hollywood again. Despite her age, she looks as stunning as always. We can’t wait to see her in new projects in the future.
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