Highlights
- Meg Ryan has made a career comeback, starring in and directing the new film “What Happens Later.”
- Meg Ryan has endured heartache and failed relationships in her personal life.
- Meg Ryan’s relationship status, whether single or in love, does not define her.
Meg Ryan has had an impressive film career, with standout performances in romcoms. A few that come to mind are “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” and “You’ve Got Mail.” But in real life, the actress’s life is anything but a romantic movie, and she has endured her share of heartache and failed relationships.
Does this impact her performance, and is she about to avoid working with romantic comedies? No, because she’s a professional and great at what she does. However, some things about her choice of roles and her past relationships make an interesting contrast.
Inside Meg Ryan’s Return To Romantic Comedies In What Happens Later
There has been great excitement surrounding Meg Ryan’s career in recent months because she has made a career comeback. In 2015, she took a break from filming (although there are claims she was canceled by Hollywood) but is set to star in a new film, “What Happens Later.” It is scheduled for release in 2023 and will star Ryan and actor David Duchovny as the male lead.
But there is something else that makes this film extra special, and that is because Ryan is not only acting, she’s also the director (for the second time in her career)!
But what can fans expect from this new romantic comedy? According to IMDB, the plot is as follows: “Willa and Bill are ex-lovers that will see each other for the first time in years when they both find themselves snowed in, in transit, at an airport overnight.” It sounds like a sweet, light-hearted film where Ryan can show off her skills as an actress once again. And if you think she struggled to get back into acting, you’d be mistaken.
“Truly, the easiest part was acting in it. I want to direct again just so I can sit in the chair, because I’m sure there’s a lot of things I missed,” she told Carol Burnett in a 2023 chat for Interview magazine. “I hadn’t done a role in a really long time, but it was fun with David. A lot of it was done in two shots. I’m proud of that.”
Their onscreen chemistry was also mentioned in the interview. “Well, I didn’t really know him before,” Ryan revealed. “We’d only met a couple of times, maybe 20 years ago. But I remembered, more than all of his other amazing work like ‘The X-Files’ and ‘Californication,’ him on ‘The Larry Sanders Show.’ He played himself as a guest, and he was so absurd and funny.”
Is Meg Ryan Single?
Meg Ryan’s last public relationship was with singer John Mellencamp. They were in a serious and committed relationship, even getting engaged in 2018. But in 2019, it was announced they had broken up. And it sounds like they did not end on the best of terms.
“She had enough and ended [their engagement],” an insider told Us Weekly at the time of their breakup.
In a 2023 interview with Esquire, Mellencamp discussed his previous partner and reflected on a memory from their time together.
“Meg Ryan had just come out of her shell; I had just come out of my shell. We started dating,” he said. “And we decided to do things on our own instead of having people do stuff for us. We were so f***ing lost. We didn’t know how to do anything. I’ve never checked out of a hotel by myself. Her and I went to a grocery store, and they wanted our credit card, and we looked at each other and said, ‘Here it is,’ and they said, ‘No, you’ve got to put it in this thing,’ and we went, ‘Then what happens?’ We laughed at how stupid we are, so hard we cried. I think she’s learned how to do everything, and I’ve learned how to do nothing.”
In the same interview, Mellencamp also hinted that he was at fault for what happened between them because he claimed he was a “sh***y boyfriend.”
“I love Meg Ryan. I went with her for ten years,” he said. “She doesn’t love me so much. She’s a great girl. I’m just a sh***y boyfriend.” He chose not to elaborate further, but his comments have fans guessing.
What Has Meg Ryan Said About Love?
Meg Ryan’s relationship status does not define her. “I’m [in love] with my life right now in a way that I adore, with my kids and my world. … I love my age. I love my life right now. I love what I know about,” she told Net-A-Porter’s Porter magazine in 2015 (via Us Weekly). “I love the person I’ve become, the one I’ve evolved into. In my life, I’ve been scrappy as hell, but I feel easy with things now. I think that comes with age.”
So, whether she’s single or in love should be of no consequence because she has learned to love herself.
Still, Meg Ryan is a big star, so her love life will always attract attention. She has had several high-profile relationships, and the reports about what she wants in the future are conflicting. On one hand, there are rumors she is interested in connecting with Kevin Costner, while another report claims she wants to stay away from men in the public eye.
“She’s always had a soft spot for Kevin,” an insider told the National Enquirer (via RadarOnline) in 2023. “Whenever they’d run into each other at showbiz events through the years, there was a major spark.”
“Meg’s not given up on dating forever, she’s just waiting for the right candidate — and Kevin checks every box of what she’d love in her next guy,” the insider added.
“He’s passionate about his craft, he’s a musician, and he’s good-looking.” Could it be? Or are we meant to believe she’s looking for a different type of relationship next? “She’s got her heart set on meeting someone who isn’t part of the whole Hollywood scene,” a friend previously told OK! Magazine.
Source: NewsFinale
