Meg Ryan on ending 8-year acting hiatus, dedicating new rom-com to Nora Ephron: 'It's just a thank you'

Meg Ryan is back on the big screen after an eight-year hiatus — but don't call it a comeback.

"I never went anywhere to begin with," Ryan tells Yahoo Entertainment about the narrative surrounding her return to Hollywood.

Ryan, once the queen of romantic comedies, returns to the genre with her new film What Happens Later. The 61-year-old co-wrote and directed the movie, which also stars David Duchovny. 

"Meg's an artist," Duchovny says. "She's a great actress and director and she's always working, always creating, always growing. She never left herself!"

But Ryan quips: "I'm not here to stay!"

What Happens Later follows exes Bill (Duchovny) and Willa (Ryan) as they run into each other at an airport. They get snowed in and stranded overnight, so naturally, they talk about the past and "find themselves just as attracted to and annoyed by one another as they did decades earlier," according to the film's synopsis. 

"It came to me during the pandemic, then I had time to write about it," Ryan explains. However, she says returning to the genre that made her a household name "wasn't this deliberate moment."

"It wasn't your strategy?" Duchovny asks.

"I didn't strategize, it's true," Ryan smiles.

Although Ryan is known for rom-coms, the genre is somewhat new territory for Duchovny. He tells Yahoo he was drawn to the film because "it was Meg." What Happens Later also piqued his curiosity because they are the only two actors in all 103 minutes of the movie.  

"I don't think I've seen a movie that it was just two people for the whole movie. And the idea of trying to keep that afloat, it was an.... old-school kind of verbal fireworks, rom-com kind of a thing," he explains. "All that stuff was really challenging and interesting to me."

"It's a challenge to just have two people in the movie and sustain anybody's interest. Especially — they're referencing all the time the past, so it was a sort of tight rope to walk," Ryan adds. "It could have gone terribly wrong."

What Happens Later is dedicated to her frequent rom-com collaborator, Nora Ephron. The two worked on films like Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail before Ephron died in 2012.

"It's really a thank you, honestly," Ryan explains. "I was paying attention when we were working together and I am blessed to have been in so many of her movies and be trusted by her. She loved this genre, I love this genre, it's just a thank you."

What Happens Later hits theaters on Friday, Nov. 3.