Meg Ryan was one of the biggest stars of the ’80s and ’90s with leading roles in some of the best rom-coms of the era; then she took a step back.
Now, the actress, 61, has finally explained why she took a ”giant break” from her career and at the peak of her fame.
Speaking to PEOPLE ahead of the release of her new film What Happens Later, which she directs and stars in, Ryan said she always thought of her acting career as “a job, not a lifestyle”.
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“I took a giant break because I felt like there’s just so many other parts of my experience as a human being I wanted to develop,” she told the publication.
“It’s nice to think of it as a job and not a lifestyle. And that is a great way of navigating it for me.”
One of the things she focused on during her break was motherhood. She is mother to Jack, 31, who she shares with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and Daisy, 18, whom she adopted in 2006.
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Ryan is known for her roles in films including 1989’s When Harry Met Sally, 1993’s Sleepless in Seattle, 1998’s City of Angels, and 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.
She last appeared in 2015’s Ithaca, which also starred her son Jack Quaid.
Since the 2000s, Ryan’s career has slowed down with the actress only taking roles here and there.
These days she has seemingly taken to working behind the camera and is set to take on her second directorial role on the upcoming Netflix adaptation, A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out.
She is set to make a comeback to the big screen in the romcom What Happens Later which will release in November.
It also stars actor David Duchovny and centres on two ex-lovers who run into each other at an airport.