Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail, and When Harry Met Sally
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“You say things like that and you make it impossible for me to hate you!” Initially studying journalism at New York University, Connecticut native Meg Ryan was only interested in acting to earn extra money through college. However, after landing a few television commercials and securing the part of Betsy Stewart on the daytime soap opera As the World Turns in 1982, Ryan wholeheartedly believed her future was on the stage and dropped out of NYU only one semester before graduation.
Over the next few years, Ryan’s performance on the popular soap opera opened many doors for the young Hollywood hopeful as she appeared in Charles in Charge, Armed and Dangerous and Amityville 3-D before appearing in the 1986 hit Top Gun. It wasn’t until 1989, however, when Ryan truly found fame as a leading lady when she was cast opposite Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally… Earning her first Golden Globe nomination for the film, Ryan was well on her way to becoming an A-lister as she starred in The Doors and When a Man Loves a Woman.
Establishing herself as Hollywood’s queen of romantic comedy, Ryan teamed up with Tom Hanks for a trio of memorable comedies including Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail. Despite making every attempt to break away from her romantic-comedy persona, Ryan had already found her niche as America’s Sweetheart and starred in Kate & Leopold, City of Angels and In the Cut with television appearances in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Web Therapy.
While fans had obviously grown to love the bright-eyed and bubbly Ryan, the actress set out to change more than just her Hollywood image as the girl next door by opting for an elective round of plastic surgery to freshen up her look. In the end, Ryan was the talk of the town as some called her transformation completely “shocking” and an “utter disaster.” In June 2016, she was met with widespread criticism and hushed gossip as she walked the red carpet at the Tony Awards almost unrecognizable with her face completely glossed over and puffy.
With the world desperate for answers on what exactly Ryan was thinking, the media turned to plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Youssef who confirmed that Ryan appears as though she has had “too much work” done on her face. “I think she looked better before this work,” he admitted. Although Ryan has not confirmed the plastic surgery rumors, it’s hard to deny as Dr. Youssef says, “The most obvious thing that she’s had done is some sort of filler or fat transfer to her cheek. It’s definitely too much because the apple of her cheek is too full and too large.”
Refusing to stop at just cheek fillers and opting for what appears to be a rhinoplasty to narrow the tip of her nose, Dr. Youssef suggested that Ryan might have developed a plastic surgery addiction that could easily cost her over three decades of fortune and fame. “The reason she looks masculine now is because of the placement of the volume in her cheeks,” he reported. “The volume of the filler should have been placed more laterally to give her a softer look.”
Reporters and tabloids around the world have desperately tried to get Ryan to comment on the rumors but they’ve come up empty-handed for years. Still, the shared assumption is that Ryan has gone under the knife numerous times with little to show for it other than her puffy cheeks. Beyond the red carpet at the Tony Awards, Ryan was the top trending subject on Twitter thanks to her new face but, not even that, phased her. “I love my life right now,” she said. “I love what I know about. I love the person I’ve become, the one I’ve evolved into.”
When asked about rumors that she’s had multiple facelifts and cheek implants, Ryan stayed calm, cool and collected with her response. “I don’t pay a lot of attention to that frankly. There’s a lot of hatred in the world today; it’s so easy to judge…but the people I value talk about kids growing up, what kind of world they are going into, what we are eating, what we are breathing.”
Regardless of the rumors and the whirlwind that follows her with every new public appearance, the 54-year-old Ryan seems to be at ease with herself and happily ignores even her harshest critics, which is no easy feat in Hollywood. And, while we may never hear the French Kiss star confess to spending thousands of dollars on plastic surgery, we can’t deny her remarkable talent as Hollywood’s sweetheart. As if to remind us, she has even proven her exceptional skill behind the scenes after making her directorial debut in 2015 with Ithaca. Is there anything she can’t do…beyond finding a good plastic surgeon, of course!
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