LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Meg Ryan had an impeccable record in the 1990s thanks to of her lead roles in several romantic comedies including 'When Harry Met Sally' and 'Sleepless in Seattle.' Ryan was already married to A-list actor Dennis Quaid when her relationship with her 'Proof of Life' co-star Russell Crowe began in 2000. Ryan ultimately divorced Quaid and after a brief whirlwind romance with Crowe, moved on from him as well. Fans were outraged at their favorite girl-next-door's cheating scandal at the time. To date, many people believe that Ryan's career never recovered from the incident, which is considered one of Hollywood's biggest cheating scandals.

Crowe and Ryan continued to be friends, but they both moved on to have new, better relationships with other people. Megan has since had a more subdued love life, which included a brief engagement to musician John Mellencamp. Ryan, 61, apparently split up with Mellencamp in 2019 after eight years of togetherness. Talking to Esquire, Mellencamp, 71, recently expressed his regrets and failings as actor Meg Ryan's partner. According to Mellencamp, he was "a s****y boyfriend" who ruined the relationship, and Ryan probably "hates" him "to death."

But what actually transpired between Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan? Here is the entire account of their brief but highly publicized romance.

Meg Ryan met Russell Crowe on 'Proof of Life' set

In 2000, Ryan and Crowe starred in the thriller 'Proof of Life', which is where the drama all began. Ryan played Alice, a lady who learns her husband has been abducted, and Crowe played Terry, a rescuer of kidnappees, in the movie. Sparks start to fly between Terry and Alice as they work to save Alice's spouse. It turns out that there were sparks flying in real life as well.

According to sources, Ryan was "extremely infatuated" with her co-star Crowe and their romance caused a lot of awkwardness among the cast and crew of the movie. The source claimed that Ryan opted not to participate in the press tour for the film in order to avoid being questioned about the affair. Even the film's director, Taylor Hackford, blamed the negative press for the movie's poor box office performance.

Ryan and Crowe eventually made their romance public in July 2000, as per New York Post, after being spotted exiting a Tom Cruise party. They had reportedly been having a secret relationship for several weeks, and during that time they had reportedly "been seen smooching and nuzzling in restaurants and clubs all over London" while filming 'Proof of Life'.

Meg Ryan didn't care about her squeaky clean 'image'

Ryan endured a great deal of public humiliation after news of her affair with Crowe surfaced. In a 2003 interview with The Guardian, Ryan opened up about a time when the drama made her the target of ridicule. "It was in One Aldwych Hotel," she recalled. "This thing happened and I was all over the tabloids and I walked through the lobby and the place stopped. People stopped talking and stared at me." Ryan claimed that even though it might have been uncomfortable, she ignored the issue. And when she arrived at the elevator, she recounted, "instead of falling apart and going, 'Ooh,' I just started laughing."

In a 2019 interview with The New York Times Magazine, she emphasized the significance of that particular incident and what it taught her. "It’s a real gift when you know you can’t ever really manage an image or a story and you stop caring," Ryan said at the time. She added, "I felt the effect, like I was the bad guy or whatever the story was. But I remember letting go of needing to correct anybody."

Meg Ryan met Russell Crowe and pretended to house-hunt

Russell Crowe seemed to be the ideal cure for Ryan's failing marriage to Quaid. During that time, a friend remarked to People that "They seemed crazy about each other," adding, "They had great talks, they're-mailed each other a lot. He called her all the time." The article continued by stating that Ryan and Crowe were frequently spotted together, in Santa Monica and Australia. Ryan's pal claimed that the much-in-love couple even pretended to be house-hunting.

Meg Ryan eventually ended the brief romance

It was expected given how widely their romance had been documented throughout, Ryan and Crowe's breakup was likewise a major story. Although there were numerous reports that Crowe had made the decision to end things, Ryan has since asserted that it was actually she who initiated the split. Ryan explained that the affair came too soon after her marriage in an interview she gave to InStyle in 2008. "I was a mess. I hurt him too at the end," she recalled. "I couldn't be in another long relationship. It wasn't the time for that. So I got out," she added.

Although Crowe never directly acknowledged that he was the one who got rejected, he did concede in one interview that the relationship had given him "a lot of light." He said, "I'm an expert at unrequited love." It appears that Crowe was eager to resolve his differences with Ryan.

Meg Ryan's already rocky marriage to Dennis Quaid

Ryan was already married to actor Dennis Quaid before her on-set encounter with Crowe. Ryan spoke candidly about her already rocky marriage situation during an interview with InStyle. She said at the time, "Dennis was not faithful to me for a long time and that was very painful." She continued by saying that she didn't learn the full scope of his alleged adultery until their divorce was finalized.

However, it appears that there were other issues in the marriage besides Quaid's infidelity. Quaid said to ET Canada in 2018 that Ryan's prominence contributed to their marital issues. He confirmed, "I have to admit it, I actually did feel like I disappeared." It makes sense that Russell Crowe was at the moment a welcome diversion from her failing marriage.