Meg Ryan is putting an end to her acting hiatus to bring us a new romantic comedy. Exclusive photos of the movie have been released, showing the 61-year-old actress making a comeback to the genre that made her famous.
After starring in the romantic comedy My Mom’s New Boyfriend in 2008, Meg Ryan said goodbye to the genre and soon after to Hollywood...until now! As an actress and director, she returns to the big screen with What Happens Later. The movie’s debut set for the Fall features both Ryan and The X-Files-star David Duchovny as leads.
The actress briefly discussed the film in an interview and described what fans can expect. “Sometimes there’s a question of: Will they be together? Will they not be together?” she said. “For that reason, [What Happens Later] sort of evolves the rom-com genre just a little bit. It’s also about old people, and it’s still romantic and sexy.”
Although a trailer has yet to be released, a synopsis of the plot, which is based on the play Shooting Star, has already been revealed:
Fate leaves Willa (Ryan) and Bill (Duchovny) stranded together at an airport for the night, which rekindles a spark left behind years ago. With a shared history to untangle, a complex journey begins, and they start to wonder whether they were brought together by chance or if they were guided there by a greater force in the universe.
In a 2019 interview, Ryan revealed she had left Hollywood behind in 2015, after starring and directing Ithaca, because fame had exhausted her. “I was burned out. I didn’t feel like I knew enough anymore about myself or the world to reflect it as an actor,” she admitted.
One year earlier, she confessed in a different interview that becoming an actress was never her dream and that she never adapted to fame. “I never wanted to be an actress. The whole idea of being a famous person — I felt like a witness to, I didn’t feel exactly in it, and I think that was a really good thing,” she said.
Much like Ryan, Amber Heard has paused her acting career to prioritize her personal life. The actress moved with her daughter to Europe and revealed she’s taking time to focus on motherhood after facing a turbulent period in her life.
I'm happy that she has decided to make a return to acting and directing. I've always loved her work. She's an incredibly talented person and her quirkiness always made her more interesting to me. I wish her the best of luck and success in her return to work and with her happiness. I hope she enjoys herself.
