It is hard to figure out why Meg Ryan has not yet gotten an Oscar nod. The coveted gold statuette has eluded her thus far. She has wowed audiences for years in crowd-pleasing films like Top Gun (1986), When Harry Met Sally (1989), and You’ve Got Mail (1998).
Ryan has dated famous men such as John Mellencamp and Russell Crowe. She was married to fellow actor Dennis Quaid for a decade. Fans are curious about whether Meg Ryan currently has a husband or if she is romantically involved with anyone at the moment.
We checked it out and this is what we discovered.
Ryan Was Married To Dennis Quaid From 1991 To 2001
Ryan and Quaid met when they were filming Innerspace in 1987. The pair started dating when they were making another film the following year, D.O.A. They were envied for many reasons: great looks, successful Hollywood careers, endless charisma, and what seemed at the time to be the prospect of a happy future together.
They got married in 1991 and had a son, Jack, on April 24, 1992.
This couple who outwardly had it all separated in 2000. The news came as a huge surprise to many. A longtime friend of Ryan’s told People she was “flabbergasted.”
People noted that someone said they saw Ryan on a flight to London with Russell Crowe, with whom she was making a film called Proof of Life. According to this eyewitness, they were behaving too intimately to be just pals, with Crowe allegedly “kissing her on the neck and stroking her hair.”
Those who knew Ryan and Quaid well said they had led a quiet, no-frills family life and loved it that way. Quaid did the cooking. They were the antithesis of what you might expect from a superstar Tinseltown couple.
Some speculated that Crowe was the cause of the tension in the Quaids’ marriage. People reported that the British media was on the verge of making Ryan’s and Crowe’s attraction public when Quaid’s friends alerted him to the bombshell news that was about to drop. Quaid was said to be deeply jarred by it.
“He was devastated. He almost started crying,” said an unnamed source. He was also worried about what their split would do to their son.
Their reps denied that anything was afoot between Crowe and Ryan, but those who saw them interacting told a different story. One claimed they were “cuddling, hugging, kissing.”
There was more trouble in paradise. On the set of the film Any Given Sunday in 1999, some women reportedly said that Quaid was allegedly acting in an unwelcome manner with them, “touching them and grabbing their butts.”
Quaid denied a woman’s assertion that he kissed her in a restroom. People who knew him said they doubted these women’s stories.
Ryan’s and Quaid’s divorce was finalized in July 2001. In 2016, their son, Jack (an actor himself), said that it was rough on him when he was a child to watch the very public demise of his parents’ marriage.
On the podcast Allegedly with Matthew Cole Weiss, Jack explained, “It’s hard to ignore when you’re at a grocery store and you’re checking out and you look at [magazines] … and there’s a photo of them with a little paper rip graphic between them. It’s a hard deal.”
Ryan put the ball back in Quaid’s court when she claimed that he cheated on her while they were married. “Dennis was not faithful to me for a very long time,” Ryan said (per The Sydney Morning Herald), “and that was very painful.”
Ryan told Oprah Winfrey in 2006 that her marriage to Quaid was “very unhealthy.” “It was pretty much not a happening marriage for a long time. I probably should have left much earlier.”
Another factor that led to the couple’s split was the stress of seemingly competing careers in the same industry. In 2018, Quaid told Today that when Ryan’s career seemed to eclipse his, things got more difficult. Nevertheless, Quaid said that his relationship with Ryan was the “most successful” one of his life.
She Dated Russell Crowe After Co-Starring In Proof of Life In 2000
As for Crowe, Ryan shared with Winfrey that in her opinion, he was “not a home-wrecker.” Ryan said, “I did not leave my marriage for Russell Crowe. My marriage was not working.” They dated briefly and Ryan still spoke appreciatively of him long after.
Ryan Adopted Daughter Daisy True In 2006
In January 2006, Ryan adopted a little girl from China. Her rep told People that it was not something she wanted to discuss publicly.
She And John Mellencamp Were In A Relationship Twice
After Crowe, Ryan had another relationship with someone prominent in the entertainment industry: singer John Mellencamp. According to People, they reportedly began dating in late 2010, but they supposedly broke it off in 2014 because Mellencamp was unwilling to give up his Indiana roots.
There must have still been a romantic spark smoldering between them though, because in 2017, Ryan and Mellencamp rekindled things. They announced their engagement in 2018, with Ryan posting one word on Instagram: “Engaged.”
They ultimately called their nuptials off. According to The Things, a source said, “They love each other, but there are disagreements which can become issues.”
Meg Ryan has yet to find the right man who can give her life a perfect romantic-comedy-style ending. We’re rooting for this lovable star whose romantic life has had many starts and stops.