History Creator / MegRyan

* {{Typecasting}}: She was '''the''' romantic female lead of the [=90s=] and the first person to go to when making a [[RomanticComedy rom-com]], to the point it became both a jab towards her and her personal resentment. Attempts to get out of the mould by the turn of the millennium eventually ended with an infamous fight with a few different producers, essentially ending her career overnight, as she was given a choice: continue with the type, or not get new parts.
-->[Common meme about  Ryan's typecasting from early 00s] "Meg Ryan and X get together in the end."

* PlayingAgainstType:[[invoked]] At the height of her popularity in romantic comedies, playing down to earth good girls, she starred in ''Film/InTheCut'', a neo noir thriller where she appeared nude and played a repressed school teacher.

* ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'' (1982-84)

* StarDerailingRole: ''Hanging Up'' is often regarded as this, but the movie that really seems to have pushed Ryan's career off the rails is Jane Campion's 2003 ''In the Cut'', a subversive thriller in which Ryan plays an English professor who gets involved with a NY cop played by Creator/MarkRuffalo, notable for its dark themes as well as explicit sex scenes. The critic [[https://newrepublic.com/article/101169/in-the-cut-meg-ryan-campion David Thomson]] noted that although the film isn't a masterpiece, it was a brave and imaginative one for Ryan to do, and her subsequent low profile can't be explained by the quality of her acting in it, but more likely by the movie industry punishing her for wanting to do something vastly different from romantic comedies.[[note]]Consider that after ''In the Cut'', Mark Ruffalo’s career continued to ascend. The negative reviews, however, did hurt the careers of Ryan and director Jane Campion, with the latter not directing another feature film until 2009’s ''Film/BrightStar''.[[/note]]

Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961 in Fairfield, Connecticut), better known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer best known for her starring roles in RomanticComedy films such as ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'', ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'', and ''Film/YouveGotMail''.

* BoundAndGagged: In the movie ''Serious Moonlight'', she plays a wife desperate to convince her husband, played by Timothy Hutton, to stay with her. However, as he is determined to leave her and live with his mistress, she knocks him out and keeps him tightly bound and gagged with duct tape for the remainder of the movie.

For a time she was married to Creator/DennisQuaid, and with him she has one son who is also an actor, Creator/JackQuaid. She also has an adopted daughter, Daisy.

* StarDerailingRole: ''Hanging Up'' is often regarded as this, but the movie that really seems to have pushed Ryan's career off the rails is Jane Campion's 2003 ''In the Cut'', a dark and harrowing erotic thriller in which Ryan plays an English professor who gets involved with a NY cop played by Creator/MarkRuffalo, notable for its generally downbeat tone as well as an extended and highly explicit sex scene. The critic David Thomson noted that although the film isn't a masterpiece, it was a brave and imaginative one for Ryan to do, and her subsequent low profile can't be explained by the quality of her acting in it, but more likely by the movie industry punishing her for wanting to do something vastly different from romantic comedies.[[note]]Consider that after ''In the Cut'', Mark Ruffalo’s career continued to ascend. The negative reviews, however, did hurt the careers of Ryan and director Jane Campion, with the latter not directing another feature film until 2009’s ''Film/BrightStar''.[[/note]]

* StarDerailingRole: ''Hanging Up'' is often regarded as this, but the movie that really seems to have pushed Ryan's career off the rails is Jane Campion's 2003 ''In the Cut'', a dark and harrowing erotic thriller in which Ryan played a dowdy professor of English who gets involved with a NY cop played by Creator/MarkRuffalo, notable for an extended and highly explicit sex scene and invoked a generally downbeat tone. The critic David Thomson notes that although the film isn't a masterpiece, it was a brave and imaginative one for Ryan to do, and her subsequent low profile can't be explained by the quality of her acting in it, being more like the movie industry punishing her for wanting to do something completely different from romantic comedies.[[note]]For proof, consider that ''In the Cut'' was one of the movies that got Mark Ruffalo noticed, and its commercial failure didn't seriously harm Jane Campion's career, only Meg Ryan's.[[/note]]

For a time she was married to Creator/DennisQuaid, and with him she has one son who is also an actor: Creator/JackQuaid. She also has an adopted daughter, Daisy.

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* UnkemptBeauty: Ryan's characters typically sported her own artfully tussled, short, blond hair.

* UnkemptBeauty: Ryan's characters typically sported her own artfully tussled, short, blond hair.
* BoundAndGagged: In the movie ''Serious Moonlight'', she plays a wife desperate to convince her husband, played by Timothy Hutton, to stay with her. However, as he is determined to leave her and live with his mistress, she knocks him out and keeps him tightly bound and gagged with duct tape for the remainder of the movie.

For a time she was married to Creator/DennisQuaid, and with him she has one son who is also an actor: Creator/JackQuaid.