Early work '' (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.
1989–1999: Career breakthrough and stardom 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". 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.
2000–2006: Continued roles 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. 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, 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 regarding filming nude scenes, appearing disinterested, delivering one-word responses, and suggesting that Parkinson end their interview when asked what she would do in his position. The interaction is considered to be one of the most infamous in talk show history. 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.
2007–2009: Independent films Following a three-year hiatus, Ryan returned to film with
Jon Kasdan's 2007 independent film
In the Land of Women. Starring alongside
Kristen Stewart and
Olympia Dukakis, she played Sarah Hardwicke, a mother and wife facing breast cancer, who connects with her neighbor's much younger grandson, played by
Adam Brody. Released to mixed reviews by critics, the film grossed $17.5 million worldwide, exceeding its budget of $10 million. Ryan received a positive response for her performance, with
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times noting it "the best work [she] has done in forever". Ryan's first film release of 2008 was
The Deal, a
satirical comedy film based on
Peter Lefcourt's 1991 novel of the same title about Hollywood. Directed by
Steven Schachter and co-starring
William H. Macy, the film was shot in
Cape Town and other South African locations and celebrated its world premiere at the
2008 Sundance Film Festival. Garnering generally mixed to negative reviews, it failed to draw interest among film studios, resulting in a
straight-to-DVD release in January 2009. In his review for
Variety, Peter Debruge said, "The characters seem to be doing all the laughing, while the general public has nothing to cling to but the horndog flirtation between mismatched leads William H. Macy and Meg Ryan—hardly ideal ingredients for mainstream success." Ryan also starred in
George Gallo's ''
My Mom's New Boyfriend'', shot in 2006 but released direct-to-DVD in 2008. Ryan's last film of 2008 was
The Women, a remake of the
1939 production. The all-female cast comprises
Annette Bening,
Debra Messing, and
Jada Pinkett Smith. Written, produced and directed by
Diane English, the film centers on a group of four female
Manhattan socialites whose primary interest is idle
gossip, with Ryan portraying a wealthy woman whose husband is cheating on her with a shop girl, played by
Eva Mendes. Ryan was the first actress to join the long-delayed production, which had struggled to find financing since the early 1990s, resulting in an independent production budgeted at $18 million. The film was a financial success, however, becoming Ryan's most successful film since 2001's
Kate & Leopold with a worldwide gross of $50 million. In 2009, Ryan starred alongside
Kristen Bell and
Justin Long in the independent comedy film
Serious Moonlight. In this film, directed by actress
Cheryl Hines and based on a screenplay by late writer
Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered a year prior to filming, Ryan portrayed a high-powered female attorney who learns that her husband, played by
Timothy Hutton, is about to leave their troubled marriage, and decides to hold him captive by duct-taping him to a toilet. Picked up by
Magnolia Pictures, the production received a limited release throughout North America only and grossed less than $150,000 worldwide. Critical reaction to the film was generally mixed-to-negative, although Ryan was praised for her "terrific" performance. Also in 2009, Ryan guest-starred on the seventh season of
Curb Your Enthusiasm.
2010–present: Directing 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. during
Sarajevo Film Festival in 2024 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. 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 == Public image and legacy ==