| BIOGRAPHY
Although she has also proven herself as a dramatic actress,
Meg Ryan used her blonde hair, blue eyes, and effervescent personality
to greatest effect in romantic comedies of the 1980s and '90s.
Initially getting her start on television, Ryan became a star
with her titular role in the smash 1989 comedy When Harry Met
Sally, earning both fame and permanent notoriety for her ability
to fake an orgasm for Billy Crystal during a scene in a New York
restaurant.
The daughter of a casting agent, Ryan was born Margaret Mary
Emily Anna Hyra in Fairfield, Connecticut on November 19, 1961.
Raised in New York, she went on to study journalism at New York
University. In need of money to pay for her night classes, Ryan
turned to acting to raise some extra cash. With her mother's help,
she landed a role on a short-lived television series, and then
made her film debut in Rich and Famous. The 1981 film -- director
George Cukor's last -- cast Ryan as Candice Bergen's daughter,
and proved to be a positive enough experience that the young actress
was soon looking for more work. A lucky break led to her being
cast in the daytime drama As the World Turns, on which she performed
from 1982 until 1984.
After appearing in Amityville 3-D (1983), Ryan secured more
auspicious work when she was cast as the wife of doomed flyboy
Goose (Anthony Edwards) in Top Gun (1986). Although her role was
minor, the film's success paved the way for more work for the
actress, and the following year she starred in Innerspace, a comedy
that cast her as Dennis Quaid's girlfriend. Her onscreen status
as Quaid's love interest soon became off-screen reality, and after
starring together in D.O.A. (1988), the two married in 1991.
In 1989, Ryan had her breakthrough role as Sally Albright in
Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally. The following year, she starred
opposite Tom Hanks in Joe Versus the Volcano. Although the film
received a lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it began
an onscreen collaboration between Ryan and Hanks that would prove
to be very successful in future films. Before she next appeared
onscreen with Hanks, Ryan took an uncharacteristic turn towards
the purely dramatic, playing Jim Morrison's drug-addicted wife
Pamela in Oliver Stone's The Doors (1991). She received wide critical
praise for her portrayal, proving that she was capable of extending
her range beyond light comedy. She further demonstrated her capabilities
in the dark 1993 drama Flesh and Bone. Her performance as a hitchhiker
received strong notices, although the film, which cast her opposite
husband Quaid, was largely ignored by audiences.
That same year, Ryan returned to romantic comedy, starring opposite
Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. Nominated for a Golden Globe for
her work, she then starred in another romantic comedy, I.Q., the
following year. However, 1994 also brought more dramatic roles
with Restoration, a period drama that cast Ryan as Robert Downey,
Jr.'s doomed love, and When a Man Loves a Woman, in which she
played an alcoholic. After further bucking her bubbly persona
with a turn as a Gulf War solider in Courage Under Fire (1996)
and a somewhat nasty portrayal of a vengeful ex-girlfriend in
Addicted to Love (1997), Ryan again starred opposite Hanks in
You've Got Mail (1998). Another romantic comedy, it put the actress
back in her most successful milieu and was popular among critics
and audiences alike. That same year, Ryan had further success
starring opposite Nicolas Cage in the romantic drama City of Angels,
and essayed the unlikely role of a world-weary exotic dancer in
Hurlyburly.
2000 saw Ryan return to comedy, starring alongside Lisa Kudrow
and Diane Keaton in Keaton's Hanging Up and also serving as the
producer of the supernatural thriller Lost Souls. However, it
was Ryan's offscreen activities that same year that truly aroused
the public's notice and allowed her to break away from her perky,
girl-next-door persona more effectively than any number of dramatic
film roles could ever hope to: following the news of her affair
with Proof of Life co-star Russell Crowe, Ryan and husband Quaid
filed for divorce. Ironically, this real-life drama mirrored the
premise of Proof, a romantic drama in which the wife (Ryan) of
a man kidnapped in South America enlists the help of a "freelance
hostage negotiator" (Crowe) to find her husband, only to
enter into an adulterous affair with the negotiator.
In 2001, Ryan took a short break from feature films in order
to participate in a documentary titled In the Wild: The White
Elephants of Thailand, though she would return to the top of the
romantic-comedy It-list in the whimsical Kate and Leopold alongside
then rising romantic lead Hugh Jackman. In 2002, Ryan provided
interview footage with fellow acting colleagues Whoopi Goldberg,
Diane Lane, Teri Garr, and Holly Hunter, among others, in Searching
for Debra Winger, which was directed by Rosanna Arquette. In 2003
-- apparently after having undergone rather striking botox and
collagen injections -- the actress reappeared on the scene for
the release of In the Cut, a throwback to '70s psycho-sexual thrillers,
which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. In 2004, Ryan will
star in Charles S. Dutton's feature-length directorial debut,
which is based on the real-life story of Jackie Kallen, a small-time
Michigan woman turned successful boxing manager.
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FILMOGRAPHY
• Against the Ropes (2004)
• In the Cut (2003)
• Kate & Leopold (2001)
• Hanging Up (2000)
• Proof of Life (2000)
• City of Angels (1998)
• Hurlyburly (1998)
• You've Got Mail (1998)
• Addicted to Love (1997)
• Anastasia (1997)
• Courage Under Fire (1996)
• French Kiss (1995)
• Restoration (1995)
• I.Q. (1994)
• When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
• Flesh and Bone (1993)
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
• The Doors (1991)
• Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
• When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
• D.O.A. (1988)
• The Presidio (1988)
• Promised Land (1988)
• Innerspace (1987)
• Armed and Dangerous (1986)
• Top Gun (1986)
• Amityville 3-D (1983)
• Rich and Famous (1981)
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