Meg Ryan Gets Real About Her Complicated Relationship with Fame
Beloved rom-com queen Meg Ryan has returned to the spotlight after an eight-year Hollywood hiatus – but in a new interview, the 61-year-old admits she’s still grappling with the isolating effects of celebrity.
“I have to say, I don’t think I was a very good famous person,” Ryan candidly told Entertainment Tonight. “I just don’t think I’m a good celebrity.” The actress rose to fame in the ’80s and ’90s with star turns in era-defining hits like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail – but says the trappings of fame brought an unpleasant detachment from reality.
“I just always felt a little bit like life was over, like, outside this little bubble, outside some sort of membrane,” she explained. “And I remember cars closing – like, expensive cars – and then you don’t hear the outside anymore. You’re roped off in that part of thing, and I just knew it’s just not good for an artist or a creative person to have limited life, in a way, to draw from.”
Ryan’s solution was an extended timeout from Hollywood, allowing her to focus on family life with son Jack Quaid, 31, and adopted daughter Daisy, 18. Now, after years out of the spotlight, she’s returning with What Happens Later – a romantic comedy co-starring David Duchovny – and says the break gave her “stuff to say” as an actress.
“I’m grateful that I’m a mom, and I’m grateful that I have friends,” she shared. “I’m grateful that my life has so many different aspects to it. I traveled a lot. So, by now, I felt like, ‘Oh, I have some stuff to say with this movie.’”
Though Ryan is tentatively dipping her toe back into acting, she implies she’s still wary of the film industry circus. “I don’t think I was a very good famous person,” she reiterates. Between the lines, there’s a sense Ryan has drawn firm boundaries around her work-life balance this time around.
While the When Harry Met Sally star seems ambivalent about fame, she remains effusive about the craft of acting. “I have to say, I don’t think I was a very good famous person,” Ryan reiterates. “I just don’t think I’m a good celebrity.” But her devotion to the work itself still burns bright.
With What Happens Later marking a new chapter in her screen career, Ryan is reflective, candid and philosophical about the double-edged sword of celebrity – and how to preserve a sense of self behind the sheen of fame. Her revelations provide rare insight into the charmed-yet-complicated existence of a rom-com icon.
