Whatever Happened to Meg?

Meg Ryan was the darling of the cinema world when she appeared in the 1998 comedy “You’ve Got Mail,” co-starring Tom Hanks. The film was one of Ryan's biggest career hits. After nearly ten years of box office success in the rom-com genre, Ryan seemed untouchable. (Photo: AP)

Ryan became a movie star after she skyrocketed to fame with the 1989 classic romantic comedy "When Harry Met Sally," with Billy Crystal. She was dubbed Hollywood's sweetheart for her appealing "girl next door features," and often-cited "cute as a button" nose. (Photo: AP)

In the 1993 film "Sleepless in Seattle," Ryan teamed up with Tom Hanks in a sappy but still irresistible love story that came to represent the era of Nora Ephron, Rob Reiner comedies. It also earned her the 1990's rom-com "it girl" title.

In 1997, Ryan lent her voice to the animated film "Anastasia" with John Cusack. 

Ryan was married to Dennis Quaid (shown here together in 1996) but the union turned ugly shortly after this photo was taken, with both parties alleging infidelity. After the couple split, Ryan's career also seemed to begin to stall a bit.

Feb. 16, 2000: In one of her first box office flops, Meg Ryan teamed up with Nora Ephron again and Diane Keaton for a film about three sisters who are all relatively ambivalent about the death of their father, played by Walter Mathau in his final appearance.

By the early to mid 2000's, Ryan's career was beginning to slow down, as she appeared in lackluster films like "In the Cut" and the strange boxing film "Against the Ropes."

Many fans began to criticize Ryan later in her career when years of apparent plastic surgery procedures left her nearly unrecognizable. 

In 2008, Ryan appeared in yet another romantic comedy called "The Deal" and co-starring William H. Macy. It appeared at Sundance, but did not fare well commercially. (Reuters)

Ryan's last major film, "The Women" featured an all-star cast including Annette Benning, Jada Pinkett and Eva Mendes, but was slammed by critics as being one of the worst "chick flicks" of all time. Ouch. (AP)