Actress meg Ryan recently opened up in an interview with People about her decision to step away from Hollywood for almost a decade. “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,” Ryan told PEOPLE, referring to her 8-year break from acting. “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.” One of the "experiences" that Ryan is referring to is her role as a mother to her son Jack, 31, whom she shares with Dennis Quaid, and her daughter, Daisy, 18, who she adopted in 2006. In a 2007 interview with People, Ryan shared her thoughts on motherhood and her children. “Kids come into the world who they are. Jack is as different from me as Daisy is. Jack is different from his dad. He’s his own guy, and that’s how kids come, no matter how you get them. It’s just as much of a lottery with your own biological children as it is with an adopted child half the world away.” The actress explained that there was "nothing random" about being Daisy's mother, saying “She is the daughter I should have.” In the same 2007 interview, Ryan also shared how motherhood has influenced her as a person and her work, specifically as a director. “[Motherhood has changed me] fundamentally,” she explained. “I have two kids – I have Jack who is in his 20s now and my daughter who is 11 – and I think that part of my life served my [ability] to direct the best.”

Ryan is currently promoting her latest project, "What Happens Later," which is her first romantic comedy in 15 years and her second directing opportunity. “It came to me during lockdown,” she said of the movie, which features David Duchovny as her co-star. “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 continued, “It’s a little roller-coaster ride between these two people, and it asks the question in a way: Will they or won’t they end up together? These are people who broke one another’s hearts way back when. And I think what they gained is that they have gratitude for that.”