After her breakout role alongside Billy Crystal in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met
Sally, Meg Ryan became one of the biggest movie stars in the world!
Though the actress could be seen in a variety of features across the 1990s, she became most
closely associated with her roles in romantic comedies.
In particular, she became known for her innocent on-screen demeanor, which was tarnished in
the eyes of the audience when Meg starred in the racy erotic drama In the Cut.
The 2003 film, which also starred Mark Ruffalo, has widely been credited with ending the actress’s
Hollywood career.
Join Facts Verse as we take a look at the role that ended Meg Ryan’s career for good.
For nearly a decade, Meg Ryan was one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood.
After her breakout turn in the 1989 romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally, Meg was launched
into superstardom.
Meg had never wanted to be a superstar, but she ended up becoming one anyway, The future
star had turned to acting to pay the bills while attending college, and her success quickly
took off without her.
Meg accepted her fate, but there was always a part of her that didn’t want to be in
the spotlight, even during the height of her fame.
Meg Ryan seemed to have become a household name the moment When Harry Met Sally was released,
and she arguably vanished from the spotlight just as fast.
Many may wonder where Meg Ryan went, and why she’s no longer starring in hit romantic
comedies.
While a variety of reasons came together to make it so that the actress is no longer the
star that she used to be, the downfall of her celebrity status is most widely attributed
to her appearance in the 2003 film In the Cut.
The erotic thriller offered the actress a challenging role that gave her some dramatic
meat to chew on after years of being typecast as the innocent type in romantic comedies.
It also cast her in the role of a writing professor, which Meg appreciated given the
fact that she had studied journalism during her college years.
Meg’s role in the film In the Cut not only required her to perform some racy material,
but it also required her to perform nude.
While actresses had been performing nude for decades without catching the ire of the public,
something about seeing Meg Ryan nude made audiences angry.
After years of seeing the actress typecast as wholesome characters, many felt violated
seeing the actress engage in what they felt were vulgar sexual exploits.
Actor Mark Ruffalo starred alongside Meg Ryan in the film In the Cut.
Mark played a detective with whom Meg Ryan's character became involved in an affair.
Mark was a fairly burgeoning star and was said to have been nervous performing on the
set of the film.
Meg Ryan had previously been depicted being loved on screen by such male stars as Russell
Crowe, and Mark was afraid that he wasn't going to compare favorably.
For whatever reason, Mark's performance in the film didn't end up hurting his reputation
like Meg's performance in the film did for her.
Mark went on to become a huge star, with the audience easily viewing him as a lovable goofball
in subsequent romantic comedies despite his racy appearance in 2003's In the Cut.
Still, the effect that the film had on Meg Ryan’s career is hard to deny.
In the Cut was not only received poorly by Meg Ryan's fans but also by critics.
Oftentimes, a controversial film will be torn apart by the public only to find its saving
grace in the hands of the critics.
Professional critics arguably loathed In the Cut even more than Meg Ryan’s fans, and
this is another part of why Meg’s appearance in the film damaged her career.
Although In the Cut seems to have been received well by almost no one, Meg Ryan remains happy
with her performance in the film.
Whether that’s because it allowed her to stretch herself dramatically or because she
really admired the work, Meg has always claimed that she is glad that she took her role in
the film even though it can be said to have ended her reign as a Hollywood superstar.
Given that the actress had never wanted to be a superstar in the first place, perhaps
she had even been hoping for her role in the film to destroy her career!
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When Meg Ryan appeared in the 2003 erotic thriller In the Cut, her personal life was
in shambles.
The actress had recently undergone a public split from celebrity husband Dennis Quaid,
and the tabloids had not painted Meg in a very positive light during the proceedings.
The events occurred around the time that Meg Ryan had starred alongside Russell Crowe in
the film Proof of Life, and there had been numerous rumors that Meg had engaged in an
extramarital affair with the actor.
These rumors of an affair made the affair that Meg’s character engaged in during the
film In the Cut hit home doubly hard for the audience.
If it hadn’t been for the fact that many fans were beginning to see Meg in a negative
light personally, perhaps they wouldn’t have been so quick to take offense to her
out-of-character portrayal in the controversial 2003 thriller.
Years after her divorce from Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan came out and said that she had never
been unfaithful to Dennis but that he had been unfaithful to her numerous times during
their marriage.
If this is true, it must've been incredibly hard for Meg to see herself publicly dragged
through the dirt for committing supposed adultery with Russell Crowe.
It seems that Meg didn't deserve any of the ire that she took from the public during the
early 2000s, whether as a result of her public relationship or as a result of her performance
in the film In the Cut.
Ironically, this kind of thing is exactly the reason that the actress never wanted to
be a movie star!
Meg claims to have been surprised at the public’s vitriolic reaction to In the Cut, especially
given that she was proud of her dramatic work in the film.
However, Meg was never quite comfortable being a gigantic celebrity.
According to Meg, she has always feared being judged by the public, which is part of the
reason why she was so hesitant to become a movie star in the first place.
After over a decade of trying it out, it seems that Meg Ryan finally got her wish of no longer
being a famous celebrity.
Soon after her appearance in the film In the Cut, her celebrity status fizzled out.
While Meg has worked since her appearance in the film In the Cut, her role in the film
undeniably marked the end of her time as a movie star.
As of this moment, Meg’s final significant role in a feature film was in 2008’s The
Women.
After her appearance in that film, Meg retreated from the public eye and has rarely been seen
since.
According to Meg Ryan, she was never good at managing her celebrity.
She has expressed that she doesn't feel that she could make it in celebrity culture nowadays,
given the increased scrutiny that comes with social media use.
The actress has always preferred to keep her personal life personal, which was something
that she had a hard enough time doing back during the early 2000s!
For this reason, Meg is arguably happier now than she was during the height of her fame,
although she's no longer quite as successful.
Meg claims that she always felt like she was trapped during the busiest years of her Hollywood
career and had a hard time living a normal life while performing in films.
While other actors and actresses have had an easier time finding a balance between their
work lives and their personal lives, Meg says that she was never able to do so.
Because of this, Meg's disappearance from the public eye may have had more to do with
her own personal preference than any one single role, though her role in the film In the Cut
certainly changed the way much of the public perceived her.
If Meg Ryan could go back in time, she would likely choose to continue studying journalism
instead of dropping out of college.
The actress had started working to pay the bills while studying, with one of her first
roles being on the soap opera As the World Turns.
When Meg realized that she had a shot at superstardom, she was forced to make the difficult decision
between continuing her studies and dropping out.
Meg’s big breakout role came in the 1989 romantic comedy film When Harry Met Sally.
The film was written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner, and one of it’s most iconic
scenes featured Meg Ryan’s character faking an orgasm for her romantic interest, played
by Billy Crystal.
The scene was the public’s introduction to Meg Ryan, making it slightly hypocritical
that they would turn against her more than a decade later for performing in the racy
erotic thriller In the Cut.
However, the fickleness of the audience is the reason that the actress never wanted to
be a superstar.
Although Meg Ryan’s role in the 2003 erotic thriller In the Cut changed the public’s
perception of her after over a decade of acting predominantly in romantic comedies, the actress
claims that she remains proud of her work in the film.
Now it’s time to hear from you: do you think that Meg Ryan’s career deserved to be put
to an end after her appearance in the film In the Cut, or do you think that the public
turning against her was for no good reason?
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