Meg Ryan Comes Out Fighting

No matter which roles Meg Ryan signs on to play, for some reason audiences always remember her -- and want to see her -- as the quirky, perky, lovable heroine in romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. While that has given the Fairfield, Conn., native a nice life -- she recently sold her New York apartment and lives in Los Angeles full-time with her son, Jack Henry (dad is Ryan's ex, Dennis Quaid) -- it's also given her quite a battle when it comes to convincing studio executives, directors and critics that she has a range.

Even a full-frontal nude scene -- her first -- in her last film, In the Cut, wasn't enough to fill theater seats. The crime thriller, about an erotic affair between a professor (Ryan) and a detective (Mark Ruffalo), was largely panned by critics and deemed "too dark" for someone who had been dubbed America's Sweetheart. Her collaboration with Russell Crowe in the 2000 action adventure Proof of Life fared no better, though that's probably because her real-life drama (an affair with costar Crowe and subsequent split from hubby Quaid) was more thrilling than the movie's plot.