Meg Ryan was in high demand throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s after her breakout performance in the 1989 cult classic When Harry Met Sally… At the height of her career, she married her Innerspace co-star Dennis Quaid and the two became parents to The Boys star Jack Quaid. However, her personal life was heavily scrutinized when news of her affair with Proof of Life co-star Russell Crowe came out.
Months before Proof of Life hit theaters, Ryan and Quaid announced their separation. Many presumed that her relationship with Crowe destroyed their marriage. Ryan has recently made her comeback into Hollywood as an actress and director with the 2023 film, What Happens Later.
Meg Ryan’s Scandalous Affair With Man of Steel Star Russell Crowe
Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid’s dream marriage ended in a divorce, but things became even nastier when tabloids began reporting her rumored affair with Russell Crowe. Ryan came under fire for ruining her marriage of this. The Sleepless in Seattle star shared her experience in an interview with W Magazine in 2000. Ryan shared her realization that she had become the “Scarlet Woman” in the eyes of the public and media. She told W Magazine (via E! News):
“I found myself in a hotel lobby in London a few months ago thinking, all of a sudden, ‘So this is what it feels like to be the Scarlet Woman. Oh! I’m having that experience now!’”
She further clarified that her marriage to Quaid began breaking down long before the tabloids got wind of her relationship with the Gladiator actor. She added that neither she nor The Parent Trap actor would ever talk about the real reason and that it would remain in speculation. The Kate & Leopold actress shared:
“My marriage and the dissolution of my marriage…well, the real reasons for it will always be speculation, because I’ll never talk about what went down, and neither will Dennis. It dissolved before it became sport for the press. The public and the press tuned in way after.”
Dennis Quaid admitted in an interview with Today that he was jealous of Ryan’s successful career when he was declining. He felt “disappeared” and “small”, but the actor shared that it was a “growth opportunity”. The tabloids’ attention to Ryan and Crowe’s affair may have destroyed any chances for Proof of Life to become a hit, as the film failed to recoup its budget.
Meg Ryan’s Love Life And Career Never Took Off After That
Both Dennis Quaid and Russell Crowe moved on with their lives and found loving partners, with Quaid finding two wives after Ryan. Ryan kept her personal life very private after her stint with the tabloids. She was last known to date singer John Mellencamp. They were an item from 2010 to 2014 and resumed their relationship again in 2017. They got engaged in 2018, but Ryan called off their engagement in 2019 (via Us Weekly).
Meg Ryan stopped appearing in films after her 2009 film, Serious Moonlight. During this hiatus, she was invited to appear in several episodes of the online series Web Therapy by her friend and colleague Lisa Kudrow. She eventually returned to the big screen in a role in her debut directorial venture, Ithaca, in 2015.
After largely remaining out of the spotlight, she recently made a comeback with another directorial venture, What Happens Later.
