Meg Ryan

Born: 19th November 1961
Where: Connecticut, USA

Like it or not, Ryan is unlikely to ever escape her most memorable cinematic moment - the simulated orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally.

However, after a raft of similar light comedy roles to Sally Allbright such as You've Got Mail and Sleeping in Seattle, she's now striking out in a new direction.

Evidence of this is Jane Campion's menacing erotic thriller, where Ryan appears completely against type as a carnally proficient English professor.

Born Margaret Hyra, her casting agent mother introduced her to movies but she went on to study journalism at New York University.

However, to earn extra money while working on her degree, the wannabe actress went into acting, using her new name Meg Ryan.

In 1981, she had her big screen debut in Rich and Famous and went on to have a minor role in low-budget horror sequel Amityville 3-D.

At the same time, she working in TV - a Betsy in the daytime television soap As the World Turns and Wildslide after she moved to LA in 1984.

It was her part of Carole Bradshaw in the highly successful Top Gun alongside Tom Cruise in 1986 that launched her career.

It led to a role in executive producer Steven Spielberg's ordinary sci-fi yarn Innerspace where she co-starred with Dennis Quaid.

The were married on Valentine's Day 1991, and in 1992 their son Jack was born.

A series of roles in high-profile films including Promised Land and DOA followed, until she got the call to play Sally opposite Billy Crystal.

Her effortless comedy performance led her to being nominated for both a Golden Globe and a BAFTA award.

Roles followed in Joe Versus the Volcano and the biopic of legendary West Coast rock band The Doors in 1991.

She was nominated again for a Golden Globe for her performance in Sleepless in Seattle and she followed this with Flesh and Bone alonside her husband.

Ryan convinced as an alcoholic in When A Man Loves a Woman with Andy Garcia and starred in the Einstein spoof IQ with Tim Robbins.

The routine romantic comedy French Kiss was followed by the period drama Restoration adapted from Rose Tremain's novel.

After the Gulf War drama Courage Under Fire with Denzel Washington, she was back on familiar rom-com ground with Addicted to Love.

In 1998, she starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the ill-advised remake of Wings of Desire, City of Angels, and provided the voice for the cartoon Anastasia.

Her next high-profile role was opposite Tom Hanks in You've Got Mail, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Ryan starred alongside Lisa Kudrow and Diane Keaton as three sisters in Hanging Up before appearing in Ridley Scott's thriller Proof of Life.

At the same time, Ryan and Quaid announced they were to divorce and she was seen dating Russell Crowe after falling for him on the set of Proof Of Life. Next up was the formulaic Kate & Leopold before she engineered a major change of direction to star in Jane Campion's neo-noirish In The Cut.