ACTOR
Meg Ryan
32 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (32)
- #001
Meg Ryan turned down the role of "Vivian Ward" in Pretty Woman (1990). The role was later given to Julia Roberts.
- #002
Three months after giving birth to her son Jack Quaid, Meg Ryan returned to work to begin filming Sleepless in Seattle (1993).
- #003
An asteroid has been named after her: 8353 Megryan.
- #004
She and her close friend Tom Hanks starred together in three films about their love: Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and You've Got Mail (1998).
- #005
Meg Ryan was considered for or offered roles in the following films: (1) Molly Jensen in Ghost (1990), but she turned it down. The role then went to Demi Moore; (2) Jade Butterfield in Endless Love (1981). The role went to Brooke Shields; (3) Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction (1994), but Uma Thurman was cast instead and received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
- #006
Meg Ryan has two children: Jack Henry Quaid (Jack Quaid; b. 4/24/1992) with her ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and adopted daughter Daisy True Ryan (b. November 2004, adopted from China in January 2006 at the age of 14 months).
- #007
On 2/4/2002, a Los Angeles judge issued a restraining order against 40-year-old real estate agent John Michael Hughes, who claimed to be her fiancé and wandered around her home.
- #008
Sally Hershberger's famous haircut was named "Meg" in Ryan's honor, because she was the first person to have that hairstyle.
- #009
In her senior year of high school, Meg Ryan was voted "cutest" girl, class secretary and prom queen.
- #010
Meg Ryan was offered the role of Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie in Steel Magnolias (1989), but she turned it down to film When Harry Met Sally… (1989). Julia Roberts was cast instead and received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
- #011
Savage Garden's song "All Around Me" was written about her, inspired by the love of the band's composer, Daniel Jones.
- #012
While both were struggling as actresses, Meg Ryan shared her Los Angeles home with Daphne Zuniga.
- #013
Meg Ryan's first film audition was for the role Brooke Shields played in Endless Love (1981).
- #014
Meg Ryan played Candice Bergen's daughter twice: first in Rich and Famous (1981) and again in The Women (2008).
- #015
During the production of Top Gun (1986) she met Anthony Edwards and moved in with him. They were a couple until she met Dennis Quaid while filming Innerspace (1987), moved in with him and eventually married him. Both men portrayed military pilots in their roles. Had she been cast as Robin Monroe in Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), it would have meant playing a character involved with a pilot for the third time, though not a military one.
- #016
"Meg Ryan" is an anagram of "Germany". When she registered with the Screen Actors Guild in her youth, she used her grandmother's maiden name, "Ryan", as her stage surname.
- #017
She graduated from Bethel High School in 1979 and was named Prom Queen.
- #018
After their mother left, she, her two sisters and a brother were raised by their father, Harry.
- #019
In at least one film her contract stipulated that she could not look the extras in the eye.
- #020
Her father is half Rusyn/Ruthenian and half Polish, and her mother is about three-quarters Irish and one-quarter German. Her father's great-grandfather Orest J. Hyra was born in Halychyna, Galicia, and met Meg's great-grandmother Anna Durniak, the daughter of immigrants, in the United States.
- #021
Playing a heart surgeon in City of Angels (1998), she sat in on highly graphic operations and practiced suturing a pig's heart.
- #022
She served on the jury of the Festival International de Cannes in 2003.
- #023
In April 1998 she was voted the most beloved female movie star by readers and online users of "People Weekly Magazine".
- #024
Prufrock Pictures was founded in 1994 and closed in 2000.
- #025
In June 1999 she ranked 57th on "Premiere" (US) magazine's list of "The 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood".
- #026
She lost the lead role in Washington Square (1997) to Jennifer Jason Leigh.
- #027
In 1998 she ranked 59th on "Entertainment Weekly"'s list of the most powerful people in Hollywood.
- #028
In October 1997 she ranked 94th on "Empire" (UK) magazine's list of "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".
- #029
She appeared in Japanese commercials.
- #030
She is Randy Quaid's former sister-in-law.
- #031
She was born at 10:08 AM EST.
- #032
She was mentioned in Ruhumuz Var (2008).
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