'So bad': Meg Ryan reflects on infamous interview that saw Michael Parkinson brand her 'rude'

Meg Ryan has opened up about the infamous BBC interview that saw her labelled "rude" by British TV host Sir Michael Parkinson.

The actress was being interviewed at the time as part of the 2003 press tour for movie In The Cut, co-starring Mark Ruffalo.

Ryan, 63, has now told The Times she thought the interview "was so bad."

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"In the States, the talk shows have breaks every four minutes for adverts, so I kept waiting for the break because I was gonna stand up and leave," she explained.

"But the break never came because it was on the BBC."

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The movie was a departure from Ryan's usual romantic comedies and saw her filming nude scenes as well as raunchy sex scenes with Ruffalo.

Her biggest hits at the time had included When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail.

Ryan took issue with Parkinson's line of questioning and pushed back, eventually telling the TV host to "wrap it up."

Parkinson later labelled Ryan "rude and difficult", although he later took some responsibility for the interview, saying he'd acted "pompous."

The famous interviewer died in 2023 at the age of 88.

Ryan explained in Marie Claire magazine in 2006 she felt Parkinson was "berating me for being naked in the movie."

"He said something like, 'You should go back to doing what you were doing'. I thought, 'Are you like a disapproving dad? Back off, buddy'. I was so offended," she said.

Adding to Ryan's discomfort was the presence of fashion experts Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine, who had found fame critiquing the fashion choices of the rich and famous as well as everyday Brits, before giving advice on how they could improve.

"And also there were these, I don't know, outfit criticisers on the show, and he asked them, 'What do you think of what she's wearing right now?..." Ryan recalled.

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Ryan said she never spoke to Parkinson again following the interview.

The TV icon revisited the moment in his autobiography Parky, describing the interview as being on his list of "disasters."

"With Meg Ryan I still can't work out what exactly went wrong," he wrote.

"She was promoting a film called In The Cut, which I had seen and didn't much like. However, being an erotic thriller, it raised some interesting questions, such as what had attracted 'America's sweetheart' to such a film."

He said there were "ominous signs" when he visited her dressing room to say hello ahead of the interview, adding that he'd been a fan of her work and was "looking forward to interviewing her for the first time."

Parkinson said she's arrived with "an entourage of publicity people" but there appeared to be a certain "froideur (coldness) between them."

He began the interview by referencing Woodhall and Constantine's segment and their comments and said Ryan "seemed surprised, as if she had been beamed into the show from another universe."

"I knew in that moment that I was not going to make friends with Meg."

The interview quickly went downhill.

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In 2021 Parkinson offered an apology to Ryan, telling Radio Times he wishes he "hadn't lost his temper" with her and had "dealt with it in a more courteous manner."

"I was obviously angry with her and it's not my business to be angry towards the guests," he said.

"I came across as kind of pompous and I could have done better."

He added that he'd offer the apology but would also tell Ryan she "played a part in it too".

"Neither of us were on top form," he added.

Ryan took a break from acting after adopting daughter Daisy in 2006.

She also shares son Jack with actor Dennis Quaid to whom she was married from 1991 until 2000.

Ryan also dated Australian actor Russell Crowe after the pair met on the set of the movie Proof of Life which was released in 2000.

She made her romantic comedy return in the 2023 film, What Happens Later, opposite David Duchovny, who played her former boyfriend.

Ryan also directed and co-wrote the movie, which was her first film in eight years.

She further surprised fans by attending the 2024 Met Gala in May, telling Vogue her daughter Daisy was "way into the history and anthropology of fashion."

"I've been discovering it a lot through her," she added.

Ryan also joined Stevie Nicks at the A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Cure Parkinson's event at Casa Cipriani on November 16, 2024 in New York City.

The fundraiser was the work of Parkinson's sufferer Michael J Fox via The Michael J Fox Foundation.

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