Meg Ryan was still married to Dennis Quaid when she met her Proof of Life costar Russell Crowe in 2000. Meg and Russell had an immediate connection, and news that the two had struck up an affair broke ahead of the film's release.
The impact on Meg's career and personal life was simultaneously catastrophic. She was blamed for ruining her marriage and shunned at the box office; the film flopped, and Dennis and Meg got a divorce. However, it turns out that the reality of what her marriage to Dennis was like is a lot different from the story many believed at the time.
Meg and Dennis announced their separation while Proof of Life was being filmed. Taylor Hackford, who directed the movie, reportedly blamed the relationship between Meg and Russell for the film's box office failure.
More from LittleThings: Prince Stopped Speaking To His Ex-Wife When She Had A Miscarriage After First Son's Death
However, Meg told The Guardian in 2003 that she gained something from the experience: knowledge of self. "This thing happened [her affair with Crowe] and I was all over the tabloids and I walked through the lobby and the place stopped. People stopped talking and stared at me. And then I got to the elevator and instead of falling apart and going, 'Ooh,' I just started laughing. This thing that people are so afraid of all the time — public censure or disapproval — has no power if you know yourself."
To make matters worse in the eyes of the public, Meg and Russell ended their own relationship before the year was over. Meg later told InStyle that she felt that Russell endured a lot because they were together, explaining, "I think he took a big hit. But Russell didn't break up the marriage. He was definitely there at the end, but it wasn't his fault. I was a mess. I hurt him, too, at the end. I couldn't be in another long relationship, it wasn't the time for that. So I got out."
Meg goes on to accuse ex-husband Dennis Quaid of cheating on her throughout their entire relationship, explaining that while some might choose to believe that she was the one who caused the issues between them, that wasn't the case.
As she put it, "Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time, and that was very painful. I found out more about that once I was divorced."
Despite the personal and professional upheaval that Meg experienced at the time, she doesn't regret what happened.
She said, "I'm not a victim. My time as a scarlet woman was really interesting. As painful as it was, it was also incredibly liberating. I didn’t have to care about what people thought."
In the years that have followed their split, Dennis Quaid has admitted he played a big role in the end of their marriage. As he told The Independent in 2019, Meg's sudden success was difficult for him to cope with.
He explained, "When we started, I was very much on top. She was just starting out. Then she had When Harry Met Sally and I took time out and the roles were suddenly reversed in terms of where we were at, in our careers. I’m too big of a person to really let that bother me and it wasn’t her fault. I was glad for her, but at the same time it really made it hit home where I was at myself, the direction things were headed."
Ultimately, there don't seem to be a lot of hard feelings between the two. Dennis went on to add, "I’m very fond of her, and we have a lot of fun. We spent 13 good years together. We had a kid together, and we shared so much: she made my life."
