Why did Meg Ryan's career go straight down the shitter?

Pretty hard to be a romantic lead and the Girl Next Door at age 60.

Well, there was only so many times that Harry could meet Sally, right?

Also that terrible movie where she played a female soldier did not help!

Terrible plastic surgery will ruin you every time.

Russell Crowe

Too many romantic comedies including some really bad ones like that Einstein one. Watch any lately? They all date badly including the music, montages, happy endings, etc.

R2 It's was pretty easy for me.

Sandra Bullock stole her Rom Com mojo

Yes, Russel Crowe. When she was exposed as cheating on her husband, the stars fell from the eyes of the moviegoing public. She was no longer America's Sweetheart; rather, she was a hussy who cheated on her husband. It is hypocritical that men are not help up to the same standard, but, then again, men are never America's Sweethearts. Also, her face. Have you seen it?

Truly awful plastic surgery. She should have sued whoever was responsible for that.

Well to be fair, Claire Danes stole a pregnant, married actress’ husband, and she still has a career...

She does anal like a champ

She was rude and obnoxious to our national icon Micheal Parkinson on his chatshow. So we snubbed her crap films.

The Russell Crowe thing...imo she got a bad rap for that. I believe her that she & Quaid were already seperated when it happened...& Quaid had been cheating on her for years with his big time coke addiction. On the other hand, minus the Crowe thing, aging out of Romcoms, an aging actress of her limited range shelf life, & bad plastic surgery, Meg is supposed to be a big time bitch in real life. So maybe people also just got tired of working with her.

Def the plastic surgery. Hurts to look at it.

Agreed on all counts, R15!

She Jennifer Grey-ed herself

Dear Lord in heaven!

Russel Crow and bad plastic surgery. Her next door girl cute face was ruined, she didn’t need the surgery at all.

Drugs. It's always drugs....

Even if Crowe and the surgery had never happened, Meg was America's Adorable Girlfriend and once she hit 40, the writing was on the wall.

It's impossible to put a once huge star into some mom role on TV -- without it becoming "The Meg Show". Though she was so popular, one would think "The Meg Show" would've been on the table by now. It's not like she killed her husband or used the N word. She must be happy not working much.

She looks like a Monkey.

She stays busy smoking 5 packs a day with her man, John "Cougar" Mellencamp!

The romantic comedy genre died

Russell Crowe’s face.

Did she rim Russell Crowe?

Claire Danes was never America's Sweetheart, poster number something or other. She was the prickly, edgy, intellectual one, and her stealing someone's husband did nothing to compromise that image.

I don’t remember Angela Chase being prickly or edgy.

I don't think Mary Louis Parker and Billy Crudup were married when Claire Danes started fucking him.

R31 I think MLP was pregnant at the time.

She deserves to be put in Movie Jail for that remake of "The Women" alone. Just ghastly as Roz would say.

That face!

I think a lot of people hardly remember Meg Ryan anymore. An actress from the last century.

I miss the 90s rom coms

Her sex tape kinda did her in.

About ten years ago she came into where I worked in lower Manhattan. This was after all the plastic surgery. She was in shades and a baseball cap drawn down low as it could go. My kind coworker who assisted her said “You look good!”, but it was a mess.

Any more gossip about her? Rumors?

She looks like somebody's Bubbe who went to the discount plastic surgeon

I can't imagine her original face could look any worse

Jessica Tandy at 82, aging naturally.

Meg looks as if all her features sunk into the lower third of her face.

And she's drawing in parentheses marks in the area where her eyebrows used to be.

Then she's just plopped some blonde curly wig on top of it all.

When Botox Met Sally

Her forte was romcoms. After a while, any actress ages out of those kinds of roles. She attempted to be taken more seriously with movies like "Courage Under Fire" and "In The Cut" but it didn't work. In the former she played a tough, "butch", foul mouthed female soldier and it was ridiculous. In the latter she gets nude and has her ass eaten out by Mark Ruffalo. I suppose she thought more "mature" roles like that would make people take her more seriously, but that movie sucked big time. And the blatant Russell Crowe affair ruined her cutesy pie America's Sweetheart image for good. And of course the plastic surgery obliterated her face and made her look like the Joker. I think all that sums everything up; age and bad choices.

she was a joke in the industry even fore she had that job ending face lift

only a fug like j c mellencamp will kiss on her

OP could you spend 2 hours watching a face like that?

And that's beside the fact that she's and out and out cunt.

Her pussy stinks!

I haven’t seen her in a movie in years.

You've got mail.

Russel Crowe supposedly beat the crap out of her and destroyed her face. That is why she needed the plastic surgery.

It’s a rumor…. decide for yourself.

What really matters is that MadTV's BLAMELESS IN BOULDER has disappeared from YouTube.

She did damn well for over a decade with massive blockbuster hits all over the place. I would say that she certainly doesn't need the money. Also, she was never a great actress.

What kind of surgery do you think she had that went so wrong? Lots of women have it but they don't look bad. Look at Jane Fonda.

I have a feeling our dear Meg had her Botox and filler procedures done out of the back of a taco truck. Maybe she was low on money back then?

Who would be an equivalent? I'm trying to think of somebody else who had that perky quality to compare who they aged.

OP, you bitch. You literally could not have chosen a worse photo of her!

[quote] You literally could not have chosen a worse photo of her!

Oh, I'm not so sure about that!

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Poor Meg!

The 90s called, Meg. It wants its Goo Goo Dolls lead singer hairstyle back.

Who wore it better?

She was always too cute, you have to mature. I think she should have taken more serious roles, even if they were not the lead.

I thought she looked good in The Women and I liked that film...except for the baby routine. Why do they have to fuck up every female movie with labor and babies?

[quote] I think she should have taken more serious roles,

She did, though. That one where she played a female soldier. I forgot the name. It wasn't very good.

Maybe she just retired? Norma Shearer did it, Garbo did it, certain actresses don't necessarily want to be seen aging on screen.

Her face is very shiny/oily at OP.

R65 yeah she could have if she had been a good actress. Other female movie stars with more talent and range have successfully made the transition. She wasn’t one of them.

R14, is this the article you are talking about? If so, it is hilarious! Meg does not come across well at all, but then again, neither does the interviewer!

Straight relationships with someone from your age group always tend to help stars, the relationship with Crowe helped him, maybe not that much her, but it certainly didn't end her career, stars are more about selling tickets, media and making money, many of them aren't very talented nor have learned their craft well, when they age that becomes a problem.

I thought she was fine in the interview.

I’ve seen actors that are real assholes, with a chip on their shoulder, giving one-word responses - she did none of that.

I think she had that tentative thing going that a more generous interviewer would have run with and would have continued the conversation towards “ain’t show biz a real kick in the pants” resulting in a few laughs and probably a touching moment or two.

That Parkinson guy is the one with the chip on his shoulder. At the very first moment he decided clarification was necessary, he worded it, “...do you deny it?” I mean, those are fighting words - completely unwarranted - and Meg still remained somewhat approachable.

[Quote] I’ve seen actors that are real assholes, with a chip on their shoulder, giving one-word responses

Like??

What plastic surgery did she have? I thought the huge mess her face became was caused by a massive over-use of fillers.

She was a genuinely great comedienne. Can't take that away from her.

[quote] She was a genuinely great comedienne.

Was she really?

Young Meg Ryan was cute. But how long does cute last for?

Nora Ephron died, and so did Meg's career.

Meg's face is melting.

The plumping up the lips is never a good thing. I don't think I've ever seen a good result. It always looks like a trout mouth.

Renee Zellweger looks worse.

The interviewer at R71 was being quite hostile to Meg. I kinda don't blame her for reacting the way she did. What is the backstory there?

The moment the Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe affair came to light.

I watched “You’ve Got Mail” the other night and her lips were already getting weird from filler. People who fuck to their faces with bad plastic surgery look particularly terrible in HD.

Not surgery related but Hanks is lucky most of his career was before HD. I watched the movie on my iPad so it was a lot closer to my face and wow he looked terrible. But from afar you don’t notice.

During happier times.

[quote] In the former she played a tough, "butch", foul mouthed female soldier and it was ridiculous. I

The movie was called 'Courage Under Fire.'

Michael Parkinson, interviewing Meg, came across as aggressive and was badgering her @ R71. I don't see her as the bad one here. I like that she was quick in her response to the question, "What would you do if you were the interviewer here?". She said, "I'd wrap it up.".

R82 really? I think Meg looks way worse. Renee looks like her face is melting, but at least she didn’t fuck with her lips. She just doesn’t look anything like the old Renee, which could be a good thing, depending on how much you loved her natural-squinty faced old look. And Renee was always a better actress than Meg. More range.

Renee looks pretty bad in her own right, R89.

Nothing lasts forever. Especially when it's blonde relying on cute.

has she ever said anything nice about being on ATWT?

Julianne Moore referenced it in her SAG award acceptance speech for Still Alice.

Was she ever nominated for an Oscar?

First, I love Courage Under Fire and When aA Man Loves A Woman. I thought she was great.

Second, Meg was always came across very angry and bitter in print Interviews. She and her mother are estranged and have been her entire career. It was played up in print interviews to juxtaposition with her America’s Sweetheart image. Based on the interviews I read I judged her to be an very unhappy person.

The Einstein movie she starred in was called I.Q. and it had to be one of the worst of the decade.

She did and movie with Quaid called "Flesh and Bone" which was far from a rom com and she was unexpectedly good. She can handle well written material if it is given to her. But now that she looks hideous, she will never have a comeback.

I love love loved Flesh and Bone. And Gwyneth’s performance was good too. I knew she was a rising star after that one.

And don’t forget Prelude to a Kiss. Another of my favorite movies. She starred with Alex Baldwin in this very serious body-swapping movie based on a play of the same name.

For R74

They wanted Mary Louise Parker badly for that "Prelude" movie since she had created it on stage but she wasn't remotely box office. Not one of Meg's best remembered performances. And it had a very strange male to male kiss as I recall.

Poor Mary Louise Parker. Not screwed over by one adulterous actress, but by two!

Meg never really had to work to be successful. When she was cast as ingenue Betsy on As The World Turns, she had almost no acting experience, but was made the centerpiece of the show almost immediately. For two years, the show basically revolved around her. It was a similar situation for Julianne Moore, but , unlike Meg, Moore always spoke of what a great learning experience ATWT was, even returning to the show for a cameo in it's final months when she was a big star. The two women couldn't be more different.

US Weekly (March 1, 2017). John Mellencamp: My Ex Meg Ryan ‘Hates Me to Death’

John Mellencamp said in a new interview that his ex-girlfriend Meg Ryan is not his biggest fan. Hear what he had to say in the video above!

Chatting with Howard Stern for the Wednesday, March 1, episode of the shock jock’s SiriusXM radio show, the 65-year-old singer revealed that Ryan, 55, isn’t interested in a friendship even though more than two years have passed since the pair called it quits.

“Oh, women hate me. I loved Meg Ryan. She hates me to death,” Mellencamp lamented.

Asked to elaborate on why Ryan would “hate” being in a relationship with Mellencamp, the rock star explained, “I think it’s because I’m a child. I throw fits, I gripe, I complain. I’m moody. Every bad thing that a fella can be, that’s me.”

When Stern suggested that Mellencamp call Ryan to make amends, the “Jack & Diane” crooner said that he has already made an unsuccessful attempt. “I’ve done that. She just doesn’t want anything to do with me,” he told the DJ. “And I can’t blame her.”

She a thot

Never was much of a Meg Ryan fan from the time I saw her in “Rich and Famous” (though it was impressive that she got to work with George Cukor,) and her synthetic rom-coms left me me cold. “Flesh and Bone” was pretty good, and she tried to stretch in “Hurly Burly”, too.

She came off fine in that interview at R71, though — the interviewer seemed to be badgering her, and I got the sense she was trying to remain cordial and diplomatic.

Flesh and bone became known only because Goop stole the movie out from both of them.

Hate her all you want at least she has some talent.

I can't say that I was ever a huge fan. Meg really did have a look that was successful - impossibly thick, blond, perfectly coiffed hair/a tiny, lean sculpted body/a fresh, youthful face topped off with a perky little nose. She defined "cute" for decades. I actually really liked City of Angels despite the tepid press and she was interesting in both Innerspace and during her brief appearance in Top Gun. Joe Versus the Volcano was so ridiculous that it was hard not to love and I could not imagine any other actress in her dual role. That said, I loathed When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, When a Man Loves a Woman, French Kiss, etc. Basically, I hated most of her huge hits and found her acting to be dismal at best. Speaking generally, I always found her meteoric success puzzling. She was certainly "cute" but never much else.

Saw her many years ago in nyc with her son. She has enormous feet. I’m not kidding.

R107 well she’s pretty tall about 5’8” so not that surprising.

Everyone wants to be tall but no one wants big feet - we’ll you can’t be that height and a size 7.

She gave my boyfriend the “stank-eye” once years ago when he worked at a popular used book store in L.A, now gone, of course.

Boyfriend also had Dennis Quaid come into the store separately at a different time, friendly, but obviously coked out of his mind.

This was late 90’s, I think.

Maybe she can make a Gucci or Pucci commercial like Faye.

R109 - great anecdote! What did your bf do to deserve the "stank eye"? Likely nothing I'm sure - but tell us the story.

Ok, I’m being a vile bitch now, but look at her arms in r86. Do some curls with a gallon of milk!!! TOO YOUNG to have arms like that, she must have been on horrible shape, not fit at all.

I’m convinced part of her facial trainwreck is the use of lip implants. She couldn’t just go with plumpers, she got TOTALLY Nickie Kidman with her lips. Which is totally fine if you like lips that look like earthworms or night crawlers. Personally, I don’t care for earthworm lips that I could use as bait for walleye or bass fishing. It’s just not for me.

Also, her eyebrows aren’t discussed enough. They need to look softer. If she softened the brows, removed the night crawler lip implant, laid off the parenthesis smile line fillers, and stopped being so shiny, she’d actually look ok.

R111 absolutely nothing. She probably saw that he wasn’t that impressed with her. He’s been in retail for over 20 years in the general L.A. area, lots of stories of seeing celebrities. Some are very polite and nice, he said like, Tom Hanks, Nicole Kidman, Harrison Ford, Peter McNichol, Lisa Bonet, Anthony Quinn, Neve Campbell were the nicest. “Stank-eye” from Jeremy Previn, Owen Wilson, Roseanne was a turd, Jodie Foster, he said, gave him “laser-beam stank-eye” for what it’s worth.

Since the beginning of film, most cute actresses age out- no matter how good they are.

She’s over.

R115, how riveting.

I'm not a big fan.

About as riveting as Meg’s acting, R116. I agree.

She had that fucking short, choppy haircut and it looked like shit. Along with the weird facial work, it made her seem that she was trying and not succeeding at holding on to her vanishing youth by her fingernails.

Agreed, R119, I hated that ugly choppy haircut she spotted for a long time. It seemed to be popular with other actresses for a while, too — it’s pathetic that I remember this, but a stylist named Sally Herschberger took credit for creating that ugly haircut. Sally has a lot to answer for!

His asshole looks a little bit more like this, R358.

oops! Wrong Ryan.That was for Boxer Ryan Garcia!

Maybe she could stage a comeback on a Real Housewives with Plastic Surgery Disasters series.

Co-starring Melanie Griffith, Hunter Tylo, Melissa Rivers, and Jocelyn Whatsherface.

They probably all need the money and would be grateful for the work.

That smooth twink ass is much more compelling than Meg Ryan's entire career, R121.

There isn’t that much work for her “type” (girl next door) after 40. She tried to break type with films like In The Cut and Against the Ropes but nothing worked. I think she wasn’t looking to work as much after 40 either.

It wasn't just the plastic surgery - she's not known to be the nicest woman. Helen Hunt pretty much killed her own career by being such a nightmare. Ditto Katherine Heigl.

The problem is that there are only so many films that will pay their salaries - and they refuse to do TV which could work out very well for them. Demi Moore is another unemployed actress who could work if she truly wanted to. But not for a ton of money.

R126, I’d heard about Katherine Heigl being a nightmare, but I’d never heard of Helen Hunt having that kind of reputation. What did I miss?

She was a niche actor who could only do romantic comedies.

Then she butchered her face, and got old.

Her plastic surgery is among the worst I’ve seen

I read the same interviews when she was still popular. She was very dismissive of her girl-next-door image on films, claimed she was nothing like that in real life. She resented that that's what the public wanted to see. She could've overcome the Russell Crowe thing (somehow, don't ask me, I'm not a PR person) but not the terrible cheek implants and the two "I'm a serious Actor" flops.

She's just not a very good actress, she was miscast in Courage Under Fire, totally unbelievable in that role. Sandra Bullock managed to be in successful rom coms when she was past 40. Of course she has a better plastic surgeon. It was unfortunate that Meg did hers when implants were all the rage and fillers were new. It's like she looked at the menu and said, I'll have one of each.

It's really interesting to compare Meg Ryan's career to Sandra Bullock...who had her big scandal, Nazi husband! yet managed to overcome it.

To be fair, Sandra Bullock really doesn’t have much of a career these days either.

If Ryan IS a cunt, she now has the face she deserves.

Excellent points, R130, I remember reading interviews with Ryan during her romcom heyday, and agree that she seemed dismissive of her girl next door image, to the point where it was almost a rebuke to the folks who liked her in those films. I don’t recall Bullock ever doing anything like that, and not only was she able to overcome the PR fiasco of her ex-husband’s craziness, she also managed to stretch her range successfully enough to snag an Oscar.

Ryan’s weird estrangement from her mother, the Crowe debacle, the awful plastic surgery — even the public who cared about Ryan couldn’t help but think something was off there.

I used to know her.

A guy I knew who worked high up in Casting at NBC always hated her because early on he called her for business purposes (he was gay but maybe not obvious enough for her) and she called her agent complaining and wondering what he wanted from her as if he was stalking her. An early MeToo false accusation and he was furious, never wanted to use nor see her onscreen again. That kind of shit happens all the time.

He went on to good things so she didn't hurt his career by a long shot but I thought of him when I read this thread. Karma.

I never understood why she had a career in the first place.

Lousy acting and zero screen presence.

Look at Barbara Thorndyke at R70!

She shines at comedy but willingly made too many shit-ass rom coms.

What r138 said...and she basically played the same part in every movie. No depth or range.

I once heard a doctor discussing her face on the radio. He said that he thinks she used a lot of fillers and that fillers don't always work that well on really beautiful women which Meg was once.

People like Joy Behar admit to using them but she was never a beauty. I think the doctor's point was you can't fix a masterpiece but you can fix a regular painting.

I fell in love with her on "As the World Turns" and was glad to see her hit the big time. By the time she did "Sleepless in Seattle", I hated her guts. Her cutesy shtick was revolting.

Sharon Stone made a comment like there is plenty of work for women over 40, you just have to be willing to do it. Stone did an arc on THE PRACTICE, later she did multiple episodes on a Law and Order spinoff where it looked like she might become a regular, but got written out.

Clearly, Meg Ryan doesn't want to work. There's more to acting work than being a leading lady in studio films. She doesn't need the money. She could work if she wanted to. There's a zillion movies and TV shows out there now she could join.

[quote]Sharon Stone made a comment like there is plenty of work for women over 40, you just have to be willing to do it.

Sharon Stone is still quite attractive at her age, and doesn’t suffer from “botched face” like Meg Ryan.

An update on Meg...when did she get that awful tattoo on her arm?

R143 and she’s also (despite how she is still perceived by many) a considerably better actress.

Why can't they remove the cheekbone implants? That seems to be the worst of it all, distorting the rest of her features. The trout pout either deflated a bit with time, or she seems to have had it dissolved.

She pretty much looks the same, just older. Youth was a large part of her appeal.

That Jane Canpion film was terrible - and I like JJL, Mark Ruffalo and Jane Campion! I left because I realised I could be home, doing laundry, enjoying myself.

Always been a try-hard. Should have realized her limitations and enjoyed being queen of the romcoms while it lasted. I hated it when she pushed her way into serious flicks. Some of us avoid romcoms and just fucking hate her.

Sandra Bullock seems to still be doing okay...had the Oceans film earlier this year and another film coming out in December (although nothing after that). She's got a kid, maybe she's slowing down and doing the mom thing. Have to say, after years of finessing whatever ps she was getting, her face at a recent awards show (Oscars?) looked hard. Hope she's backed off from that.

I think if she got rid of the lips she would look fine.

Because she's a fucking turd and that's where shit belongs.

I can’t fault her for wanting to break out of the romcom films. She wasn’t totally unsuccessful at it. She did When A Man Loves A Woman in 1994 and got a SAG nomination. In The Cut was ok but didn’t have the desired effect she wanted. She was smart to work with Jane Campion who directed The Piano also which is a masterpiece.

Any momentum she had in her career was halted in the early 2000s. Comebacks can happen, but she’d have to swallow her pride and lay off the plastic surgery. Lots of work on TV nowadays. Or a juicy supporting part in a theatrical film.

Meg is producing and directing now.

Was there ever an size meat verifecta on Quaid?

BUMP

Her yuppie cutesy poo bullshit got old quick. Easy to age out of. I never liked her.

I just got done watching The Doors movie and she's plain lousy in the Pam role. Can't see Morrison falling for and staying with standard issue Meg/Pam. She doesn't exude any traces of an alluring 60s woman child and her character as written had no substance whatsoever other than being a joyless drag. Granted, it was thankless and small part, (basically just a prop to Kilmer) that she should've turned down. The Jim and Pam knockdowns and harrowing death defying closet fire and window hanging scenes are dumb because that's when she comes off as playful and comedic at least in my opinion. Her only decent scene was very brief where she'd just shot up some H.I still enjoyed the movie overall.

She peaked at Joe vs the Volcano. It was the jewel of the Hanks/Ryan trilogy and the pinnacle of both of their careers.

i was an extra in the final scene / NY Eve in When Harry Met Sally . They coupled us off and had us do endless reshoots of dancing / celebrating at midnight type of thing..... well i spun around and sure enough kicked old Meg Ryan in the shin. I'll never forget the look of death she gave me when she realized who kicked her. She had to sit down and massage it, etc. Rob Reiner and the ADs were standing around. She was pissed.

“Against the Ropes” was a career-ender for poor Meg. It sat on the shelf for TWO years before finally being quietly released. Just one (of many) of Brad Gray’s Paramount bombs.

Hated that she gatecrashed stuff like the doors. Should have stayed in those treacly hanks movies where she was easily avoided

MiMi, did you get hurt in a fire?

What happened to your face?

Are you going to be dead soon?

Maybe she finally just said no to Weinstein - and the roles stopped coming?

Because of what she did to her face?

She was always whingeing about her status as queen of the romcoms, trying to be edgy and she should have just made the most of what she had.

Also when she dumped quaid for crowe, she and crowe initially overplayed denials about getting together which made them both look like liars and annoyed journalists.

And she looked like the joker for the first few years after her major plastic surgeries. Plus she denied having work done so she looked even more like a liar.

I'm still rich, and I can sleep.

Meg used her immense artistic skills to announce her engagement to Mellencamp

She did not need plastic surgery. She was absolutely gorgeous; the most beautiful eyes. Why can't these beautiful people see the reflection staring back at them.

She should have stayed on "As The World Turns".

The original shitter actress. What happened to Ol Joker Face anyway?

exactly R169 / imagine Lillian Gish in Night of the Hunter with plastic surgery

Wonderful in "Prelude to a Kiss. "

I used to work for a Warren Buffet company, and had to attend the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in Omaha every year. There were always celebrities at the meeting, and since Omaha’s old downtown (only place with any charm in that city) is very small, you’d bump into celebrities in old-town’s restaurants all the time.

Once I was walking out of a steak house and bumped into (literally) Meg Ryan and John Mellancamp. Her face looked like it was patched together. I actually gasped, but covered my horror by pretending that I was just shocked to see her in Omaha. Poor thing! She’s been truly butchered.

She could have had a much better late-period career if not for the plastic surgery.

R175 What's the evidence? I remember seeing In the Cut and resenting how much she and it SUCKED.

R176 I'm pretty sure R175 means she could have had any semblance of a career if not for her plastic surgery, not that her acting or roles would be particularly "good."

R9 Bitch please. That dyke stole nothing.

She is the androgynous start category but lost out to the more charismatic Eric Roberts.

R177 And I'm saying based on what? I don't see any evidence that she could have had "a much better late-period career." Her acting, even in those rom-coms, was all arm-waving and OTT ditsy-ness. Later, in more serious roles she couldn't summon any depth. If she hadn't botched her face, I still think her career would have gone straight down the shitter.

Isn't Meg one of those actors that misremembers her soap past?

Isn't Meg one of those actors who misremembers her soap past?