Meg Ryan on Quaid, Crowe and No Longer Being "America's Sweetheart"

Tue., Sep. 23, 2008 9:03 AM PDT by

Meg Ryan Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

Meg Ryan is finally opening up about some of the hurly-burly that has surrounded her personal life—most notably, the brief romance with her Proof of Life costar Russell Crowe and the subsequent dissolution of her marriage to Dennis Quaid.

"Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time, and that was very painful," the actress reveals to In Style magazine. "I found out more about that after I was divorced."

She's quick to point out that while Crowe "didn't break up the marriage," the end of her 10-year union with Quaid in 2001 "was also very liberating."

So liberating, in fact, that Ryan decided to temporarily remove herself from the media microscope by taking some time away from moviemaking to both travel and focus on Jack, her 16-year-old son with Quaid, and daughter Daisy, whom she adopted nearly three years ago from China.

But Ryan has slowly been making her way back into the spotlight, currently starring in the ensemble flick The Women.

And while she may no longer hold the Tinseltown title "America's Sweetheart," she's also perfectly content to be done with that label.

"It's an old-fashioned idea, so anachronistic. I understood it was a compliment about being lovable, and it felt nice," says Ryan. "But it also felt, after a time, like ideas were being projected onto me that had nothing to do with me. The girl next door to what? I never felt like a very conventional person."

Print Share 43 Comments
filed under magazines

43 Comments

Now loading...

Add Your Comment!

Guests

E! Online members

Register | Forgot password?

Play nice and have fun. And please, no HTML tags or special characters including [&*#()!@$].
You've got 1000 characters left.

Post Comment

BIG PICTURE

Bling It On Even excess accessories look slammin' on style-tastic risk-taker Rihanna

More Photos

E! News Now

  • Rosie Revives Classic TV

    Rosie O'Donnell is bringing back the variety show with "Rosie Live." Sneak a behind-the-scenes peek at her new show.

  • Alessandra's Slimdown Secrets

    Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio is back to a size two only three months after giving birth! How'd she do it?

  • Tyra's "Twilight" Love Bite

    Tyra Banks goes batty over hunky vampire player Robert Pattinson and gives him something to sink his teeth into: her.

  • Oprah's Favorite Cheap Things

    This year the Big O is sharing some of her favorite frugal things. Find out what you can buy for next to nothing!

Fashion Police

Reese Witherspoon, 4 Christmases

Holiday BluesReese premieres her new film Four Christmases in a lovely navy gown—but where's her spirit?

More Photos

Our Partners

Shop

Get Your E! News Now

Text ENEWS to 4INFO (44636) for daily celeb news alerts

Standard messaging rates apply.

Did you know you can grab smokin' hot E! Online news, review and gossip through our RSS service?

New to RSS feeds? Learn more >>

Birthdate:

Enter your full birthdate:

has been subscribed to the E! News Now Newsletter.

To change your settings, go to your preferences.

E! News Now

  • Rosie Revives Classic TV

    Rosie O'Donnell is bringing back the variety show with "Rosie Live." Sneak a behind-the-scenes peek at her new show.

  • Alessandra's Slimdown Secrets

    Victoria's Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio is back to a size two only three months after giving birth! How'd she do it?

  • Tyra's "Twilight" Love Bite

    Tyra Banks goes batty over hunky vampire player Robert Pattinson and gives him something to sink his teeth into: her.

  • Oprah's Favorite Cheap Things

    This year the Big O is sharing some of her favorite frugal things. Find out what you can buy for next to nothing!