Meg Ryan back with new rom-com 'What Happens Later', says, "it's the cutest thing"

Eight years after her last film, the beloved actor stars in, directed and cowrote the new rom-com 'What Happens Later'. "It's the cutest thing," the writer, director and actress, 61, tells People. "That feeling at the end that just makes you feel your heart open."

Ryan is no stranger to the experience. She established herself as the eternal queen of romantic comedies with roles in films such as When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. She was also successful in tragic films like When a Man Loves a Woman and Courage Under Fire.

But as her fame grew, so did her determination to step away from the spotlight. "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 says, including her role as mom to her two kids, Jack, 31, with ex-husband Dennis Quaid, and Daisy, 18, whom she adopted in 2006.

"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," she says.

Now -- eight years after her last film, her 2015 directorial debut, Ithaca -- Ryan is finally back on the big screen. She stars in, directed and cowrote the new rom-com What Happens Later, about ex-lovers snowed in together overnight at a regional airport. (The film received an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA allowing publicity during the strike), reported People.

"It came to me during lockdown," she says. "The essence of it is these two people who are stuck together. I just love that idea that we're held in a space, even if it feels conflicted, maybe for reasons that heal them."

Ryan, who co-stars with David Duchovny, describes the entire production as "magical." It's a little roller-coaster trip between these two people, and it kind of begs the question, "Will they or won't they end up together?" These are folks who once broke one other's hearts. And I believe what they earned is gratitude for it."

Does she now believe everything happens for a reason? Ryan's thoughts turn to the late Nora Ephron, who wrote and directed many of her classic rom-coms. "In retrospect I feel it's true, yeah," she says. "The movies I did with Nora had an operative thing about kismet, like destiny and fate. And there's something really comforting about that." 'What Happens Later' hits theatres on November 3, reported People. (ANI)